THE BOOK OF ESTHER 


CRITICAL EDITION OF 
THE HEBREW TEXT WITH NOTES 


BY 


hae PAUL HAUPT, LL.D. 
; W. W. SPENCE PROFESSOR OF THE SEMITIC LANGUAGES IN THE 
JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY, BALTIMORE, MD. 


CHICAGO 
THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO PRESS 
1908 








THE BOOK OF ESTHER 


CRITICAL EDITION OF 
THE HEBREW TEXT WITH NOTES 


BY 
PAUL HAUPT, LL.D. 


W. W. SPENCE PROFESSOR OF THE SEMITIC LANGUAGES IN THE 
JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY, BALTIMORE, MD. 


CHICAGO 
THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO PRESS 
1908 





Tue American JourNaL oF Semitic Laneu. 
anp Lireratures, Vol. XXIV, January, 1908 





The University of Chicago Press 
Chicago, Illinois, U. S. A. 


THE AMERICAN JOURNAL 


OF 


SEMITIC LANGUAGES AND LITERATURES 


(CONTINUING HEBRAICA) 


Votume XXIV JANUARY, 1908 Numper 2 


CRITICAL NOTES ON ESTHER’ 


By Pact Haupt 
Johns Hopkins University 

In the following nn. I have not attempted to give all the di- 
vergences exhibited by the Ancient Versions; as a rule, I have 
recorded only variations which throw some light on the Heb. 
text.* The ancient versions of E are so free and inaccurate (¢f. 
eng. mm. on 3, 13. 14; 4, 1. 11. 14; 518; 6, 1; 7, 3.4) that it 
would be a waste of time to discuss all discrepancies. 

W’s+ and J’st theory that 6 is more original than {#l seems to 
me untenable (cf e. g. nn. on 6, 1; 7,4; 8, 8). The fact that 
the text of 6 does not read like a translation from the Heb. (cf. 
however Tecwv treo7, 6, 13)|| is easily explained by the popularity 
of E. As soon as a foreign book becomes popular, the transla- 
tions become more idiomatic and free.§ Ifa French play is to be 
a success in America or England, it is impossible to present a 


1 Preprinted from the forthcoming Wiiliam Rainey Harper Memorial Volumes. 


*Tt might be well to add that I completed the restoration of the Heb. text of E on Oct. 
16, 1905, and that I revised it twice, on Aug. 6, 1906, and July 11, 1907. The Critical Notes 
were begun on Jan. 24, 1906, and finished on the following day; they were rewritten from 
June 9 to July 13 and on Aug. 4 and 5, 1906. Finally I recast them again from June 4 to July 
12, 1907. 

tHugo Willrich, Judaica (Gottingen, 1900) p. 15; cf. also p. 27, 1. 20. Contrast 
Pur. 28, 15. 

£G. Jahn, Das Buch Ester (Leyden, 1901) p. vi. 

|| Cf. my remarks in Daniel 16, 23. 

§ Note the adaptations of the proper names in &S, discussed in nn. on 1, 10, 14 and 9, 7. 


1] 97 


98 THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SEMITIC LANGUAGES 


literal translation. It is necessary to introduce additions as well 
as omissions. I see nothing in © that is incompatible with the 
view that 6 is based on fil or, to be more accurate, on a recension 
of the Heb. text from which ffl is derived (cf. e. g. nn. on 1, 10. 
14; 7,4; 9,9). W deems it not impossible that E was intended 
for Alexandria, and therefore written in Greek; afterwards, he 
thinks, it may have been translated into Heb. for the use of the 
Palestinian Jews. But E was written by a Persian Jew about 
130 8. c. The Alexandrian festal legend for the Feast of Purim 
is the so-called Third Book of the Maccabees, and the Book of 
Judith is a Palestinian Purim legend; see Haupt, Purim 
(Leipzig, 1906) p. 7, ll. 30-38. I cite this book as Pur. The 
first number after Pur. refers to the page; the second, to the 
line. Cant. denotes Haupt, The Book of Canticles (Chicago, 
1902) reprinted from AJSL 18, 193-245; 19, 1-32. In the 
same way Eccl. is used for Haupt, Ecclesiastes (Baltimore, 
1905) and Nah. for Haupt, The Book of Nahum (Baltimore, 
1907) reprinted from JBL 26, 1-53. 

The unabbreviated names of Biblical Books printed in Italics 
(e. g. Kings, Psalms, &c) denote the critical notes on the Heb. 
text in SBOT, 7. e. my edition of The Sacred Books of the Old 
Testament; the first number after the name of the Book refers to 
the page in SBOT, the second indicates the line. Thus Genesis 
50, 9 refers to p. 50, 1. 9 of the critical edition of the Book of 
Genesis in SBOT; but Gen. 50, 9 means chapter 50, verse 9 of 
the Book of Genesis. In the references to SBOT the (unabbre- 
viated) names of the Books are printed in Jtalics; in the refer- 
ences to the received text of the Heb. Bible the names of the 
books are abbreviated, but not ztalicized, and the numbers of the 
chapters are printed in heavy-faced figures (1, 2, 3, &c). 

L use for 6Y, 7. e. Ec@np 8 in L’s edition (= Ain Fritzsche’s 
edition) and 6" for Ec@np a (=B in Fritzsche’s edition). @ 
denotes the first Targum in L’s edition; @’="37w Dw7N (the 
numbers after © refer to the pages and lines of L’s edition). 
The apocryphal additions to E in 6 are cited according to the 
cc. and vv. of the Vulgate (3) e. g. 11,2=6' 1,1. This cor- 
responds to the numeration in the Authorized Version (AV). 

2 





CriticaL Notes on ESTHER 99 


In addition to these symbols note the following abbreviations: 


AG?*= Delitzsch, Assyr. Grammatik (Berlin, 1906). AJP = Amerv- 
can Journal of Philology—AJSL= American Journal of Semitic 
Languages— AoF= Winckler, Altorientalische Forschungen—AOG 
=Winckler, Der alte Orient und die Geschichtsforschung (Berlin, 
1906)=MVAG 11, 1—ASKT=Haupt, Akkadische und sumerische 
Keilschrifttexte (Leipzig, 1881)— AT = Altes Testament.— AV = Author- 
ized Version.— A V™“= Authorized Version, margin. B= Bertheau, Die 
Biicher Esra, Nechemia und Ester, second edition (Leipzig, 1887) by 
Victor Ryssel._BA = Beitrdge zur Assyriologie von Delitzsch und 
Haupt.—_BAL=Haupt, Bettrage zur assyrischen Lautlehre = Nach- 
richten von der Kgl. Gesellschaft der Wissenschaften zu Géttingen, 
April 25, 18883 BDB=Francis Brown (assisted by S. R. Driver 
and C. A. Briggs) A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the OT (Boston, 
1906)—_BL=Haupt, Biblische Liebeslieder (Leipzig, 1907).—BT= 
L. Goldschmidt, Der babylonische Talmud.ir~C=Paulus Cassel, 
Das Buch Esther (Berlin, 1878).*—c.=chapter; cc.= chapters.— Cant. 
=Haupt, The Book of Canticles (Chicago, 1902) reprinted from AJSL 
18, 193-245; 19, 1-32——Ch=Cheyne.— CV (i. e. Congress- Vortrag) = 
Haupt, Die akkadische Sprache (Berlin, 1883).— DB = Dictionary of 
the Bible— E = Esther.— EB = Encyclopedia Biblica, edited by 
Cheyne and Black.— Hcecl.=Haupt, The Book of Ecclesiastes 
(Baltimore, 1905) reprinted from AJP, No. 102.—G = Greek Bible 
(LX X).— G = Alexandrinus.— 6 = Lucianic recension edited by L 
(Gottingen, 1883).— 6 = Sinaiticus—— 6’ = Vaticanus.—_ GB“ = Gese- 
nius’ Hebr. Handworterbuch, edited by Buhl, fourteenth edition 
(Leipzig, 1905) GK" = Gesenius’ Hebr. Grammatik, edited by K 
(Leipzig, 1902)— English translation of GK® by Collins and Cowley 
(Oxford, 1898) H = Haman.—_ HW = Delitzsch, Assyr. Handwérter- 
buch (Leipzig, 1896). IN = Ed. Meyer, Die Israeliten und ihre Nach- 
barstamme (Halle, 1906)—J=G. Jahn, Das Buch Ester (Leyden, 
1901).—3 (i. e. Jerome) = Vulgate. JAOS = Journal of the American 
Oriental Society—JBL=Journal of Biblical Literature—JHUC= 
Johns Hopkins University Circulars (Baltimore).— K = Kautzsch 
(especially his Teaxtbibel)—1 K, 2 K=The first (second) Book of the 
Kings.— KAT*= Eb. Schrader, Die Keilinschriften und das AT, 
third edition, edited by Zimmern und Winckler (Berlin, 1903),— 
KB=Eb. Schrader, Keilinschriftliche Bibliothek. L=Lagarde.— 
1.= line; 1].=lines— LB = Luther’s Bible— LOT =S. R. Driver’s 
Introduction to the Literature of the OT —M = Mordecai.—1 M, 2 M= 

*It might be well to add that the references to C were inserted after I had completed 
the revision of my manuscript, in July, 1907. Some etymologies proposed by C are impos- 


sible, but several of his remarks are superior to the observations found in the leading com- 
mentaries. 


3 


100 THe AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SEMITIC LANGUAGES 


The first (second) Book of the Maccabees.— fl = Masoretic Text MDOG 
= Mitteilungen der Deutschen Orient-Gesellschaft (Berlin)— MSS = 
Manuscripts.— MVAG = Mitteilungen der vorderasiatischen Gesell- 
schaft (Berlin).— N = Néldeke.— n.= note; nn.= notes.— Nah. = 
Haupt, The Book of Nahum (1907)=JBL 26, 1-53—NT= New 
Testament.—O=Oort, Hmendationes (see Proverbs 69, 4)—OLZ= 
Orientalistische Litteratur-Zeitung, edited by Peiser.— OT = Old 
Testament.— p.= page; pp. = pages.— Pur.= Haupt, Purim (Leipzig, 
1906) = BA 6, part 2—R=Ryssel (especially his edition of B and his 
critical nn. in the Beilagen to K’s Die Heilige Schrift des AT).—_S= 
Siegfried, Esra, Nehemia und Esther (Gottingen, 1901).—1 S, 2 S= 
The first (second) Book of Samuel.—S= Syriac Version (Peshita),—S* 
= Ambrosianus.—SBOT = Haupt, The Sacred Books of the OT—SD 
=Haupt, Uber einen Dialekt der sumerischen Sprache = Nachrichten 
von der Kgl. Gesellschaft der Wissenschaften zu Géttingen, Noy. 3, 
1880.—SFG = Haupt, Die sumerischen Familiengesetze (Leipzig, 1879). 
SG°=Néldeke, Syrische Grammatik, second edition (Leipzig, 1898). 
€ = Targum. — © = "yy piw7n.— TBAI = Cheyne, Traditions and 
Beliefs of Ancient Israel (London, 1907).—THCO (7, e. Transactions of 
the Hamburg Congress of Orientalists) = Verhandlungen des xiii. Inter- 
nationalen Orientalisten-Congresses zu Hamburg, 1902 (Leyden, 1904).— 
v.= verse; vv.=verses— VG=Brockelmann, Grundriss der verglei- 
chenden Grammatik der semitischen Sprachen (Berlin, 1907)—W = 
Willrich, Judaica (Gottingen, 1900)— Wd= Wildeboer’s commen- 
tary on E in Die fiinf Megillot (1898)=part xvii of K. Marti’s Kurzer 
Hand-Commentar zum AT—WdG=A Grammar of the Arabic Lan- 
guage, by W. Wright, third edition revised by M. J. de Goeje (Cam- 
bridge, 1896).— Wn = Winckler (especially his paper on E in AoF 3, 
1-64, Leipzig, 1901, whole number xvi).— ZA = Zeitschrift fiir Assyri- 
ologie.— ZAT = Zeitschrift fiir die alttestamentliche Wissenschaft.— 
ZDMG = Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenlindischen Gesellschaft.— 
ZK = Zeitschrift fiir Keilschriftforschung. 


A scholar who considers the Moabite stone to be metrical may 
discuss the poetic form of E;* but so far as I can see, it is written 
in prose, just as Ruth and Jonah are (apart from the Maccabean 
psalm inserted in c. 2; see AJSL 23, 256). 


For "MON=Istar, a feminine form of ASur, Benignus, so 
that E= Benigna (cf. Lat. Bona Dea) see my paper The Name 


*Cf. the remarks of Cornill and Ed. Meyer cited in AJSL Q8, 221; also Budde, 
Geschichte der althebr. Litteratur (Leipzig, 1906) p. 33. 


i 


if CriticaL Notes on ESTHER 101 


Istar in JAOS 28, 112-119; and for the Herodotean prototype of 
E and Sheherazade (@Pacdupin, Her. 3, 68) see Pur. 8, 21 (ef. 40, 
20). @ (241, 16) says of E: 87513 2395 OWA ANTS TWA “Pre 
Napa is). 


N 

(1) fA SHIN is a corruption of W°"STN (oT nN) = Old Pers. 
KhSayarSa. It is not necessary to suppose that wyUn us (Syl!) 
became W7I"SMN (Kings 126, 47; 270, 22) and that the \ and “ were 
afterwards “transposed, while the * was corrupted to }. The name 
orn does not appear as wry. 

“For the transposition of the vowels cf. DE TIEN (3, 12) for 
DETTENN = Old Pers. khsatrapavan, also y2 Va ‘for 472 (see n. on 
250, 2,5) and went for Wen 72, yan nN; " Assyr. Araxsamna; 
see Pur. 23, 15;* ef. L, Purim, p. 52, below. - 

The first } of ;I7TDMN is a corruption of ", the second 4 is due to 
dittography of the "; cf. the dittographed } in Dwr and “ADIN, 
Ruth 2, 8; 3, 14; also Ja 95, Nah. 2, 1 (see Nah. 29, below) and 
oy 7s =oOmS (9, 19). The letters ) and ® as well as } and ™ are 
often confounded, dittographed and haplographed (Pwr. 51, 22). For 
5 and ® cf. E 8,13; Ruth 2,1, and Kings 259, 29. S reads correctly 
—s;se./, just as we find in an Aramaic inscription: WANN, corre- 
sponding to the Babyl. XiSi’arSu (-7, -a) or AxSiiarsu (# = aa 
For confusion of } and ™ (4) cf. my remarks on pa a7 "2511 ae) 
instead of 4257 O10 and WTI t for Wi oN (Ex. 15, 2) in ‘AJ SL 
20, 158, below (see also 23, 225, below). The suffix in [25% DiIdt is 
due to dittography of the initial —= of the following 7725. In the 
gloss 2 K 16, 10 we find pwan for pwr; in Job 41, 21 (a variant 
to vy. 20) MAIN stands for MAM =Assyr. tartaxu, shaft, arrow (KB 
6, 328). In E 1, 16; 2, 21; 3, 12; 8, 10 we find p"1wNN; in 10, 1: 
 wawMN. Theform w-1wDMnNr (Gopi is more correct than (7 VDRRN, 
although the first 5 is a corruption of ®. In wW™DMN the omission of 
the 4 (for *) before = is due to Cesipe smaataely = has been 
omitted before 4 in 45% (for (75m) E 7, 8, and GS (dayares, Lawes) 

* Cf. also Sana = Assyr. abaibu (Nah. 31) and modern Arab. qaba-jtir for French 
abat-jour (VG 1, 121, below). 

+For 1) ="N3 to praise cf. Eth. FR: (AG2. $148). 

TIN 23 Ed. Meyer still renders: Ross und Reiter; he also maintains the pre-Exilic 
date of Moses’ Song of Triumph. He agrees with me, however, in stating (p. 49, below) 
that there is some historical nucleus in the story of the catastrophe of the Egyptians; ef. 
my remarks in AJSL 20, 149. 153. 154. 158. 


5 


102 THe AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SEMITIC LANGUAGES a1 


read M75 instead of MII, Joel 1,17; O15 must be derived from 
"335 = "T5515; see n. on 9, 26. 

In 27 out of the 29 cases in which the name w;W™"DMN occurs in E it 
is due to scribal expansion; cf. especially 1, 15. 16; it is original only in 
the opening clause ‘8 ‘2°D "47 (1, 1) and in the phrase ‘Ry m4{5d%2 
(3,6;—9,30 is a gloss). Wherever we find 457 a2 a5 or maby pan 
(GK*, § 131, g) either the name or the title is due to scribal expansion, 
The proper Eng. phrase is King David, the proper Heb. expression is 
mpl "5. The king David is neither good Eng. nor good Heb. The 
proper names (David, Solomon, Rehoboam, Jehoram, Jehoash, Rezin, 
Josiah) must be omitted e. g.in 1 K 1, 32. 37; 5, 27; 8, 5; 9, 11; 12, 6. 
18; 2K 3,6; 14,11; 16, 6. 11.17; 22, 24; 23, 29,* while the omission of 
the title king is required e. g. in 1 K 1, 53; 2, 29; 10, 16. 21. 23; 2 K 16, 
11. 16; 25,8. Even in cases where sb: 375 is affixed to the proper name, 
the title may often be omitted; cf. e. g. 2 K 9, 15 and Stade’s nn. (in 
Kings) on the passages cited above. 

It is often stated that the name of God is never mentioned in E (ef. 
n. on 4, 14) while the King of Persia is referred to 187 times, and his 
kingdom 26+ times; cf. e.g. W 27 and Hastings’ DB 1, 733, footnote. 
S (137, n. 1) remarks that the King is mentioned 190 times. I find that 
the name WAYMAN occurs 29 times, while he is simply referred to as 
the King 193 times. This would be 222 times, not 187. In several 
passages, however, the title 1 275 does not refer to Xerxes in particu- 
lar, but means royal in general. 

6 has for W7"WMN the name of his son ’Apragéépéns (cf. Hzra 32, 5). 
This discrepancy is not striking if the name W7A"DAN is a later addition 
in all the passages except 1, 1 and 3,6 (see above). G' ’Agovipos is a 
later correction, just as 6" Ovacrw for GY Aorw. S% reads, at the begin- 
ning of the parenthesis, —epeaul) apo on. According to AoF 3, 5 
wawMmMN is Cambyses, and the conspiracy in 2, 21 was aimed at 
Cyrus (cf. below, ad 2,21) but King 7"ZMN in E represents Alexan- 
der Balas (see Pur. 29, 8; 35, 42) i.e. the poor and wise youth alluded 
to in Eccl. 4, 13 (for poor=humble, of mean birth, of low origin, see 
AJSL 23, 226, n. 13). 

The parentheses are a characteristic feature of E (cf. Pur. 9,6). We 
find a great many explanatory parentheses in Herodotus; cf. e. g. 
Holder’s edition where the parentheses are enclosed in () while glosses 
are enclosed in []. As E was written about B.c. 130, the Sadducean 
author may have read Herodotus’ work, just as the Sadducean author 
of Ecclesiastes may have been acquainted with the works of Epicurus 


*This must not be interpreted to mean that all proper names, or titles, that might be 
dispensed with should be canceled, even if they are omitted in some of the Ancient Versions. 


+ This is correct only if we include mab) in 1,19; 4,14; 5,1, where it refers to E. 
6 


1,24 CriticAL Notes oN ESTHER 103 


and other Greek philosophers (Eccl. 6, n.7). I have indicated the 
parentheses by () e.g. vv. 13. 14; 2, 5. 12; 5, 7. Tramspositions are 
indicated by j{ and [] e. g. v. 6, not by (). 

For 33 we would expect I or AAT (cf. “HCN for “HCN, 
sew for 5 NTT, &e) corresponding to Syr. ofl, Arab. O4® Hind. 
T has NWT, but S weed Lt goa so. In 1. 14 of the inscrip- 
tion of Darius at Naqs-i-Rustam the name appears as Indi. The 
accent of {575 should be on the ultima, not on the — ( 5 eee baie 
"35, not 75>). B thought that the pointing 3575 might have been 
influenced by 721 AMM, but these two words are not the only segho- 
late (see Proverbs 67, 19) eee jos ee iat wD, InN, &e. Theoin 355 
instead of 7 or e may be explained in the same way as in Nt = Assyr. 
Ni’, Thebes; see Nah. 30 and cf. my Assyr. E-vowel, p. 22. It is 
possible that the Heb. 0 was pronounced 6, just as the Assyr. u seems to 
have been sounded as zi; see Ezekiel 64, 43. 

(2) The prefixed D7 D722 is due to scribal expansion. 

According to AOG 21 4niD5a NOD oy an M2wW> means, not 
when the King sat on his royal throne, but when he acceded to the 
throne. The beginning of the following verse, however, shows that the 
great banquet was given, not at the accession of the King, but in the 
third year of his reign. W (16, above; cf. 21, below) referred 6 e6povicOy 
(several MSS have éveOpovic@n) to the solemn enthronization of the King, 
which may have been celebrated three years after the accession of the 
King (cf. Jacob, ZAT 10, 281). The German Emperor William I. suc- 
ceeded his elder brother Frederick William IV. on Jan. 2, 1861, but his 
coronation was celebrated at Kénigsberg on Oct. 18,1861. G é6povicGy 
(which is a free translation of "niDdod NOD } y M2w>) may refer to the 
enthronization (cf. é& airais tats jucpars) but eis is not the original 
meaning of fl. Cf. also E 5,1 and Herod. 7, 102; Plut. Themist. c. 13. 

Heb. 77712 (S 124,45, © NN2772) is a Babyl. loanword = birtu, 
citadel (HW 1857). SA F724 TON denotes the Acropolis of Susa; 
so, correctly S. Cf. my remarks on the Acropolis of Nineveh (Nah. 44). 
The royal palace was situated in the Acropolis (C 13, below) not in the 
city. The city was separated from the Acropolis by the Choaspes; see 
n.on 4,17. 6%, incorrectly, év Sovoos 77 oka. Contrast MSD WIT 
FID as (at the end of c. 3) and WF Bim (6,11). See also n. on 9, 6. 

(3) Before 5"M we must insert “ip ; so R (in K) and S. 

For Dvan7=En=Assyr. parsimati (HW 546)=p pT cf. AJP 
17, 490. 

(4) The statement (AoF 3,31, n.1) that the original meaning of this 
passage was undoubtedly that the King gave a banquet after having 
displayed his power is untenable; (MN WWI cannot mean after having 

7 


104 Tur AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SEMITIC LANGUAGES 1,5 


shown. Neither GY xai pera tatra pera ro deifar airois nor G" eis ro em- 
daxOjvac (J ut ostenderet) are correct. The emendation DAWA. is 
gratuitous. 

The 180 days may be an exaggeration, just as the 10,000 talents 
(3, 9) or the 50 cubits (5, 14) or the 75,000 said to have been slain by the 
Jews (9, 16) but the author undoubtedly intended to convey the idea 
that the banquet lasted 180 days, 7.e. half a year. 

fA Ba OD is a corrective gloss (or variant; cf. Adap Nuway in 
6 3, 7 and Kings 213, 48; 291, 4; Nah. 40, 5; alson.on NANI, v. 10, 
and n. on 8, 6) to the following D5" AND DO DDw; it is omitted in 
6", The glossator may have considered the 180 days an exaggeration; 
cf. second n. on 6, 8. 

(5) Kethiv meidan, Qeré mixdaa}. The form is based on the 
analogy of the verbs j4%5, the & is silent; cf. VIND (Is. 9, 4) @ e. 
nts = NO = WSO = Eth. YA}: San; see Isaiah 88, 39; Kings 274, 19; 
280, 48. 

fA Tap 794 Sian75 means both high and low, not old and young; 
the latter phrase is expressed by WPT WA “W572 (3, 13). B interprets 
(Op 3 5375705 correctly in the present verse; but in y. 20 he takes 
it to mean old and young. 

Instead of MwA it is better to point HMw; cf. y 60, 5 and 
Kings 1738, 8. The "2 in this case indicates an accented short e; see 
below, n. on y. 22; contrast THCO 209. 

In “Joan ya M34 TEMS (S bese, Peds MY Zip2) ET 
7 2M is according to Wn a gloss to wna 333 but this is impossible. 
GY & aidAq oixov Tod Baciéws omits T}35; GS has evdov ev rH atdAy Tod 
Baciréws. The feast was not given in the park: this would have ruined 
the park; it was given in the forecourt. of the royal park. This fore- 
court (D in the groundplan of the Acropolis of Susa in Billerbeck’s 
Susa, p. 1382) had a mosaic pavement. A mosaic pavement in the park 
(B) would be very strange. Nor is E’s banquet (c. 7) given in the M55 
ima; the King goes from E’s banquet to the park (7,7) and returns 
from the park to the place of the banquet (7, 8). According to Ch (EB 
4500) inlet is a corruption of "302: it was an orchard of pistachio 
nut-trees that was meant! It might just as well be explained as a slight 
modification of 5x30"! But wna is a Babyl. loanword (KAT*, 649) 
derived from bitanu, palace. Cf. tarbagu Sa bitani in Behrens, 
Briefe kultischen Inhalts (Leipzig, 1906) p. 39, n. 3. The idea (AoF 
3, 2) that cape is an ideogram with phonetic complement (n + A"3 = 
appadan or maethana)* is impossible; see Pur.48,10. The punctu- 


*Cf. N, Aufsdtze zur persischen Geschichte (Leipzig, 1887) p. 152 and my ASKT 165, 
below. 


8 


1,6 CriticAL Notes on HSTHER 105 


ation "M72 is just as wrong as the vocalization of TBD (v. 6) and 
VAX (8, 6). Cf. also oer for Be (4, 3). 

-(6) fl “75 is an explanatory gloss to the following Pers. loanword 
O55 =xdpracos. A second explanatory gloss to OH95 is V2 which 
must exchange places (cf. n. on 3, 11) with n>am. The transposition 

42 and nd5n is probably due to 8, 15 where we find Vas8) rials 
cf. the remarks on iyo ees (Nah. 3, 17) in Nah. 33. For 772578 
mon" cf. my remarks in THCO 220. Both terms are Babyl. loanwords 
(KAT®, 649, n. 2). The prefixed gloss "9M explains the color of the 
o57D, while the affixed gloss yu describes the fine quality of the 
velarium (6° oxy) terapevn, cf. J et pendebant .... tentoria, © 37 
cont jo™5, S file). Cf. carbasus Lucr. 6, 109. 

For CBD with 4 (as in xdpracos) we must point eas = Pers. 
bys, Syr. jasjzo ; cf. conclusion of n. on v. 5, also Daniel Pails U8). 

Before D595 we must insert the preposition AMM; this was prob 
ably displaced by the gloss "4h; cf. n. on NMIIN4 (instead of Wan) in 
y. 10 and n. on 8, 11; also Nah. 25 (ad 1,11). There is a certain graphic 
similarity between "4M and MMM; not only 4} and ™ are confounded 
(see above, ad v.1) but also 4 and M: in {2 (Ezr. 4, 13. 20; 7, 24) 
e.g. the feminine of the Babyl. term biltu (from $235) has been cor- 
rupted to “; the original form may have been ma; cf. Eth. rr: 
bénat (TAOS 13, lii, below; JBL 19, 77, below). On the other hand 
we find fm for ) in "IMM ="IMNwW'; see Hzra 63, 2; cf. "Oordvys (sno 18) 
Sachau, Drei aram. Papyrusurkunden aus Elephantine (Berlin, 1907) 
pp. 26. 33; for FNOIN=4N0} of. TWANWA=s7A4 73 and Kings 118, 1. 
Contrast L, Pur. 52, below; also BucGavys (Arrian 3, 19, 4). 

It is impossible to regard vv. 6. 7, with B and Wb, as exclamations; 
nor can we, with AV, supply at the beginning of v. 6: where were (in 
K’s AT dort gab es; S da war). 

SH FINN does not mean held, fastened (GY rerapevas ext cxowviows, J 
susténtata funibus, $ (lous —uihs) but bound, bordered, edged; 
Ger. eingefasst ; soB and K; contrast Keil, Schultz, Wb, S (befestigt). 

fa 95°55 does not mean rings (3 hay, 3 circuli) or xiBou (6%) but 
poles; see my translation of Cant. 5,14 in AJSL 18, 199; cf. THCO 
234 and BL 10. 

Before A we must insert the preposition 3. It is not necessary 
to say MM27oy, as in 7, 8; cf. AJSL 22, 201, 1. 11. 

The terms AMO AT ww VID seem to denote four varieties of 
marble: Ww (=wWrw 1 Chr. 29, 2) is white marble (ef. ww=y"2, 
byssus, i. e. white lawn; see the third paragraph of the nn. on the 

¢) 


106 Tue AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SEMITIC LANGUAGES  1,7.8 


present verse) = Assyr. SaSSu (i. e. SAaSu; cf. Ja8u = 1a5u = yd 
laisa; see Proverbs 51, 9.—fMl BAI, © cpapaydirns may be smarag- 
dine marble, i. e. probably verd-antique.— fal 97, G zivwos (ef. Arab. 
» durr, pearls) may be lumachelle or shell-marble (Ger. Muschel- 
marmor) which the ancient Persians may have obtained from the neigh- 
borhood of Astrakhan; the Astrakhan lumachelle is dark brown with 
orange shells. Muschelkalk (shell-limestone) is called in Assyrian pilu 
or pilu=zdpos; see AJSL 23, 259, below; Nah. 16, n. 15—Heb. 
mmo may be identical with Assyr. sixru (HW 495°) which is probably 
another name for Suba (HW 637")= aw (Ex. 28, 19; 39, 12) rendered 
in G3: dydrns; so it may mean onyx marble which the Romans called 
alabastrites. Onyx is but a variety of agate. Delitzsch’s conjecture 
(Proleg. 85) that Subi=‘2u3 denotes the diamond, is improbable.— 
The meaning of Ww is reasonably certain; the explanation of the three 
other terms is more or less conjectural. 

(7) # T5727 TD (cf. 2, 18 and 1 K 10, 18) is correctly paraphrased 
in 3: ut magnificentia regia dignum erat; cf. Kings 186, 45. 

(8) For MAD see below, ad v. 13. 

$8 TI& FR (E TINT M75) does not mean no one urged (3 nec erat 
qui nolentes cogeret ad bibendum, 3 eS) Dado, AV none did compel) 
but no one restricted; so, correctly, Schultz. Cf. the Ithpeel DINAN 
in the Talmudic passages Ned. 27°; Keth. 16°, cited in Jastrow’s 
dictionary; alsoin Dalman’s Worterbuch OINMN is explained to mean 
gehindert werden. The stem DIN means to constrain; this may mean 
either to urge to action or to restrain from action. The stem T38 may 
be connected with Assyr. urasu, overseer (HW 136°). For the change 
of r and n cf. NWI, to lend=Assyr. rast; yao =: cf. Zita eld 
(2, 6)="257D123 and ZDMG 61, 195. But Heb. 7579 does not cor- 
respond to Assyr. magaru; this verb (HW 392) means originally to 
fall down, to submit (Ger. sich wnterwerfen) = "572 W 89, 45. 

For the drat Aeyduevov 59 79° cf. 59 DPD in 9, 21. 27 and in the 
gloss 9, 31. é 

The distributive repetition "NS WN (GK, § 123, c) is very com- 
mon in E, just as the parentheses referred to above, in nn. on y. 1; the 
infinitive absolute instead of the finite verb, discussed below, in n. on 
m2 (2, 18) and the use of Aramaic words, mentioned below, ad 4, 4; 
ie 4s 9, 21. 23; cf. also the Aramaic forms and constructions discussed 
in nn. on 2, 9.18. For the phrase 12785 WN cf. WII 71277, 1, 
22; 3, 12. 14; 4, 3; 8, 9.,.13;— By) Oy, 1, 22; 3,12; 8, 9;—BT BY; 
2; 11; 3, 4;— 34 i) a> 2, 12;—""9 ""y 8, 9. i rw) rdw » 
9, 21. 27;—cf. especially 9, 28: 2a AM|wa AMSwa “AT wt 55a 
eyelet iba ie 

10 


A 


1,9. 10 CriticaL Notes on ESTHER 107 


According to the Talmud (Meg. 12°; BT 3, 579) every guest received 
the wine of his native district (cf. © 224, 23; contrast 237, 5) just as at 
certain modern entertainments the guests are sometimes asked to order 
their favorite brand and vintage ne champagne ( “oN "2 7D 
WIT P2 WpPtn IAN ITN S90 a>). 

(9) #4 "Mw may be identical with the name of the Elamite deity 
MaSti; see Pur. 10, 29. For \=Assyr. m see n. on nike (8, 9)2° (GF. 
also the name "37D; seen. on v.6. € 238,12 Vashti says: I am the 
daughter of Evil-Merodach, grand-daughter of King Nebuchadnezzar 
of Babylon. According to Ch (EB 5247) "Mp4 isa corruption of H"AVEN, 
Assur being often used as a synonym for Jerahmeel! Cf. Ch’s expla- 
nations of "57772 (2, 5) and wy7 (5, 10). 

$4 m7 is haplography for M72a (E NMIDIA MAD). Cf. Fan 2, 
for 7507 M722, 4,13,and contrast MIDI727 M22, 5,1; 724 m3, 
9,4; IM°n2. 1, 22; see Kings 301, 45. 

fA TMwy is pluperfect, as in 2, 1; see Kings 247, 16; cf. below, 
27pimi, v. 14; 775, 2,5; HPS, 2,10; om, 4, 1, &e. 

fl ww 7525 we is a scribal expansion; (DUVVOAN is a 
tertiary hdditiens cf. above, ad y. 1. 

(10) The names of the seven chamberlains of the king are just as 
doubtful as the names of the seven councilors (vy. 14) and the names of 
the ten sons of H (9,7). The name 829277 is mentioned again in 7,9 
as TDN. with final $j instead of & (cf. Ruth 1, 20 &c). The name 
NDI2 seems to be miswritten for NIN32 (G22) )— 732 (221)2 GF. 
the omission of the n in & SN pieces = "fA g7D75D ai w5077=077 
(vy. 14). The name of the fellow-conspirator of NIMS in 2, 21; 6, 2: 
D7M was displaced (cf. ZDMG 61, 286, 1.18; Nah. 25, 1. 26; BL 62, n.50) 
in the present passage by NMIDNI, which is merely a gloss (or variant; 
ef. last n. on v. 4) to NMJD with prefixed 4 explicative (cf. Pur. 15, 31) 
just as NIC" seems to be a variant of the preceding 0779 (v.14). But 
the name 7M is preserved in GS. 

G* gives the following seven names: Apav, Mafav, ©appa, Bwpaln, 
Zabor\Ga, ABatala, @apa8a. The first name, Away, is a corruption (or 
adaptation) of fA vara adds to i122; ve 162 5) yan aa 
NP" OSANT 77D).— Malav=Balov=fA NOTD.—Oappa=Oapoa (cf. 
Gappos = Gapoos, and the proper names @apoeas &c)= FA ww. In GY the 
names 7M Ws. are omitted in 2,21; 6,2; but in the apocryphal 
addition prefixed to the Book (v. 11=3 12, 1) we find TaBa6a xai @appa. 
G* Bayafay kai @apas in 2, 21 is a subsequent addition. Tafa is a trans- 
position of Bayafa (J Bagatha)=fA NID; cf. S NMIZIN (see below) 
= 8 NNID, and 5 KITT = HM eee , also 5 NNW = 5* NNN TS 
for NNCIO"D (HM NNMIw7S) in 9, 7. G1, 11 has for GY TaBaa xai 

11 


108 THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SEMITIC LANGUAGES 1,10 


@appa the names Aoraos (var. Aorayos) kai @edevros, Josephus (Ant. 11, 
6, 4) Bayabwos kal Ocodecryns (= WIN, with F for 4). The Vetus Latina 
has in 2,21: Bartageus et Thedestes. According to W 19 the original 
name was @eddoros. But even if @edevros and @eodeoryns were corruptions 
of @eddoros, this name would be a Greek adaptation like povpa: for 
®OYPAI = GOYPAI; see n. on 9, 23.— G6" ABarala seems to be a corrup- 
tion of f@ NMIIN (Afarala = NININ = NNTIN = NNIIN) just as fl 
NMA2 appears in 6 as ZnBababa (i.e. NOMA = NMNIA = NMNMI2) and 
in 6 as Buwpaln (= Boyaln=Bwyabn; cf. Zwoapa = D7 =W7Z, 5, 10).— 
GY ZaforAba (for Zabopha)= Hl ="M7.—GY OapaBa (G* @aBal) = HA TS™D 
(@apaBa = Bapafa= O72 = 0592 =0575; cf. S below). 

ff NTID7N does not appear in GY, but G* has instead of GY @appa 
(for ®apoa) = D7 the name OapeBoa which is a corruption of NIDA. 
In 7, 9 GY has for 1 FAN the name Bovyafav which seems to corre- 
spond to fl min (for NIMID; see above). G* Ayabas (var. TaBovbas 
= 6" Bovyafay, cf. GY TaBaba=3 Bagatha, 12, 1,=f& NMI; also 6 
*Axpabaios = “AOaxaios = Wn , 4,9, and TaBovfa =TalovBa = FAV, 
Kings 176, 33) may have been influenced by the Greek names ’Ayafas, 
*Ayabos, &e. According to Jewish tradition Harbonah was a good man; 
he is blessed with M and E after the reading of the Megillah at the 
Feast of Purim. The transposition in $ N35DM7 may represent a simi- 


lar adaptation; NIM" suggested the verbs wauso Sons, to have pity 
and compassion; cf. [auisco [sau eds, compassionate and merciful ; 


Ore 


Louudo [saas, tender-hearted and benign. For 3=%3=5 cf. AJSL 
23, 235, n. 46; also n.on 9,9. The name N3525M suggested destruc- 
tion; cf. LS;0 and bay = oS (SG? § 128, B). Cf. the remarks 
on povxatos and Bovydios in the nn. on v. 14. 

S reads wo , to the eunuchs, instead of fil va (for 
=" cf. the remarks on WAYDMN = WANWMN) adding after M NOI 
the name w™N which corresponds to the third name in GY, @appa. The 
names in 3, after the prefixed nomad, are: NMZQ NAM NNT 
wD ANT WAN NXMDIN. Apart from the preservation of 7M, which 
is omitted in Sl, and the interpretation of fi waa as way, 
to the eunuchs, the names in § are practically identical with those in fil. 
The differences consist in transpositions and other slight graphic varia- 
tions (2 for 5 &c). For NmIaSN 3S has NMIIAN. For the transpo- 
sition NAAM = NANDA cf. G “Apxecaios = M NIWAD, v. 14; TaBala 
= Bayada = NID; TaB8ovdas = Bovyabay = yna3 ; also G* Avay for 
Apayv (3, 1). 

3 Mauman, Bazatha, Harbona, Bagatha, Abgatha, Zethar, Char- 
chas follows f#1; so, too, Tf. 

12 


1, 12-14 CriticaL Notes on ESTHER 109 


The derivation of 0°95 from Assyr. Sa resi (ZDMG 58, 116) seems 
to me impossible; for o= Assyr. cf. “MON = Istar; see Kings 
270, 26. 

(12) Heb. iN; to refuse (cf. Syr. aS Lats fi, zt is not tedious to 
me, I do not mind, Eth. a0}}; manndana, to reject; Arab. x3 L 0 
muma’ana, deliberation) may be a secondary Piel derived from the 
interrogative pronoun 77a; what? (cf. Assyr. mint, how? and mint, 
what?) i.e. a compound of the interrogative pronoun 9, who? what? 
and the interrogative particle #: nu (cf. n. on 7, 5). Heb. {Nam 
meant originally she said, What! Cf. AJSL 22, 259 and WdG 1, 
§ 67, d, also T57™) (Num. 18, 30) from th. 

$A “Aw is scribal expansion; cf. the remarks = ae mb oy] im 
nn.ony.1l. GY’ has Actw 4 Baciduocoa oe sp) aD>an; in v.11 6” 
has simply rHv Bactdicoay for DIN "Tw MN. 

(13) #1 =25 means here ditt ep Chavaelt, and Serna onstial 
(3, 4) also MVAEN “AI (9, 31) and HSA “AI (9, 82). 

n deni na TT NMNN, 5 Lave Lwota), G‘" youov Kal Kptow, 
3 leges ac jura majorum, AV law and judgment, LB Recht und Handel) 
the term 7"5 is not added as an explanation of AF (S). The meanings 
of the two terms are entirely different: (7 denotes especially a personal 
or executive act, while 774 denotes a legislative act; MG is a royal 
decree (pD57. "DI, v. 19; cf. NID 1, 8; 2, 12; 4, 16 and the last 
paragraph of nn. on 1, 14) or edict, and 775 means consuetudinary law 
including the ecclesiastical (ceremonial, ritual) law; in Arabic the term 
ero din is therefore used for religion. The term "M7 corresponds 
to the decisions of the Roman emperors, which were called decrees (Lat, 
decreta) and formed part of ie imperial constitutions (Lat. Sotead 
tiones principum). Cf. v.19: "4735 O75 "A523 Ssn2 n> 727 Nt 
Heb. m7 is a Pers. loanword (cf. Hzra 63,18) and means lit. what is 
given (Lat. datum). Heb. V7, on the other hand, is a Babyl. loanword 
(KAT®, 650 below) which may ultimately be, not Semitic, but Sumerian 
(SD 527, 1). Babyl. dinu corresponds to Sumer. di=din, just as 
qanit, reed is derived from Sum. gi=gin (CV 9). For the vanishing 
of final consonants in Sumerian see SFG 49; ASKT 136, 1.7; CV 8; and 
for the preservation of silent final consonants in loanwords cf. Pur. 16, 
32 (also 735 = 735). 

(14) For #4 apo i] we must point a7piT1, he caused to come 
near, i.e. he Eee (cf. Josh. 7,16; 1S ‘10, 20; Jer. 30, 21) or he 
had summoned (cf. the n. on MWY, v. 9). S’s conjecture apo 
(1 K 5,7) is not good. GY xat zpoondOev aita (6 zpoopAOov) does not 
presuppose a different consonantal text; the Hiphil a7pri may be 

13 


110 THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SEMITIC LANGUAGES 1,14 


intransitive; cf. Ex. 14, 10 and Kings 174, 27; nor need we read the 
plural, (29pm (see Kings 170, n. *) or a5p. T => yap, * 
AS Ae. 

The names of the seven councilors are just as doubtful as the names 
of the seven chamberlains in v. 10; “nw might be identical with the 
first part of the name “Tia “nw, but the initial 1 may be a corruption 
of 32; see Hzra 34, 5.— For Dan cf. 1 Chr. 7, 10 where this name is 
followed by "MwW"TN which has been combined with the cuneiform 
AxSeri given in the cuneiform account of the fourth campaign of Sar- 
danapalus (KB 2, 177, 1. 126) as the name of the King of Man (or Van; 
cf. un. on "Tw, v. 9) between Lake Van and Lake Urumiah; cf. 
Ninth Annual Report of the Johns Hopkins University (Baltimore, 1884) 
p. 28. According to TBAI 166 “mw and wp7N are corruptions of 
“MwWN, while "Mw"MN is a slightly modified form of “"wN!— HM 
O72 may be a shorter form of the following name Ni30773 (cf. n. on 
"2531 25, Nah. 35) just as NM32 (= {N32 =NINIA) is a shorter form 
of the following RMN (v. 10)— The name ne ay= appears also in vv. 
16 and 21, 

For the seven names of ffl (J Charsena, Sethar, Admatha, Tharsis, 
Mares, Marsana, Mamuchan) &* has but three, viz. “Apxecatos, Sapoa- 
@Qaios (G* Sapecbeos) and MaAnoeap. In vv. 16. 21 G has 6 Movyaios for 
(Da"a; this may be a Greek adaptation, just as ¢povpai, vigils for 
py» (see nn. on 9, 23) and Bovyaios, braggart for Twyatos = "385 = 
"UN (see n. on 3,1). For the article cf. the remarks on 6 Mapdoyxaitos = 
"57770 (2,5) and GK", §125, d. Movyaios, it may be supposed, was 
regarded as a dialectic by-form of pouyixes, adulterous; ef. Aolian 
Moica = Motca, Mowaitos = Movoaios. This councilor may have been 
called 6 povyaios, because he advises the King to divorce the Queen; cf. 
Matt. 5, 32 and the remarks on $ S\N for #1 ATIDAN in un. on v. 10. 
6" has Bovydios for 6 povxaios; cf. nn. on NIT (2, 3) and "34m (3, 1).— 
G ’Apxecaios corresponds to ffl NIW7D; cf. the transposition of the " in 
§ 23207 = fl RAND and the omission of the } in OW =NIO 1, 
NOSD=NINID. The form of the name in 6 may have been influenced 
by Greek names like "Apxecos, “Apxéoas &c; cf. the remarks on 6 Ayafas 
(7,9) in nn. on NADA, v. 10—The third name in 6, MadAnceap, evi- 
dently corresponds to ff N30" (O73) with / for r, and r for n; ef. my 
remarks on Adpuroa = R6éS-ini (Heb. 70") in ZDMG 61, 284 and Nah. 
45, below.— Consequently the three names in 6 correspond to NIW75, 
NIC, and soa in ff. G omits “WN NRNDIN Ww after 
NowlD, and O79 before NIC". G& may have regarded NNVAIN “ATW 

14 


1, 15-17 CriticAL Notes on ESTHER iL 


w'wrN as appositive to NIWAD (= WAN NVIN Aw ?)* and on 
as undeleted corrigendum (cf. "253 213, Nah. 35) for “507%. For 
various spellings of the same name cf. Kings 275, 29. In G* four of the 
names of the ten sons of H have dropped out. It is possible, however, 
that the additional names of S#l in the present passage are due to scribal 
expansion. Cf. also T? (238, 24). 

® reads (31972 N™OD WAN OAT NVA) ANN Ww. 
Here the names ~w"w"M and O77 are transposed, W'wWAN appearing 
after 07727 (= fA 0773) instead of preceding it. Apart from the trans- 
positions and other slight graphic variations, the names in $ are again 
(cf. v. 10) practically identical with those in fM@. The corruption 
NwI7D (for NIwD) is obvious; S* has "7g". The prothetic of 
“NWN is not found in %‘; for MNV27N 34 has NM7N; for OV": O72. 
See also Marquard, Fundamente, pp. 68-73, cited EB 1402, n. 2. 

(15) The pice F110 at the end of v. 14 must be inserted after AI5 
at the beginning of v. 15; maD (© NMA) belongs to the preceding 
clause (contrast n. on 2,6). We must read: mino2a SSN Dl 
mi5, who held the first rank in the kingdom according to a (royal) 
decree (patent). Cf. n. on aleka ha Sl (v. 18) and an 5 nae 
(3,2). The prefixed M75 before the question MyDy> Fd would be 
very strange. There is no A745 before nw? ria in 6, 6; nor do 6&3 
express it in the present passage. % jAaiteS ad poss’ fio Ls ops] 
is merely a free rendering of S2>a2 nw ae Contrast Ed. 
Meyer, Geschichte des Alterthums, 8, 34. 

(16) Kethiv java; Qeré 12; as in vv. 14. 21. GY 6 povyaios, 
G" Bovydios, 3 —ass, JI Mamuchan. G* Mapovxaios is a subsequent 
correction for povxaios. 

(17) Hl "27 means procedure, behavior, attitude; cf. v. 13. The 
following 735" is not genitivus objectivus (GK, § 128, h; cf. n. on 4, 
11). Gra pyyata Hs Baoricons, xat ds avtdire TE Baird is a doublet; 
cf. the rendering of O°x" (38, 13) in G. For the explicative xai see 
Pur. 16, 15. 3 sermo, © xsd mw OIND (cf. v. 19: T pane 
nni25 na = Al miod 727). 

For #& 5p read 5y; cf. 4,5: "oT dy “sm (for 5x) and 
contrast 7,7: 58 (for \*5y) also 9,10: oo ON (for 5y). See 
Nah. 20, ad v. 9. 

The suffix in O773N2 does not refer exclusively to the women; both 
men and women will say: The King commanded Queen Vashti to 


*Assyr. Sapatu (HW 6848) = QD or axta for axta (HW 273a,1. 2) do not prove 


interchange of [ and %; cf. n. on NODDY, Nah. 35. In DUP = his’, stein = 
Ann, WO=09N; UDIV=NNw, DwpP = nwp, DAY = MAX. & the Y is due to 
partial assimilation; see AJSL 23, 248, below. 


tSee also Moses Schorr, Altbabyl. Rechtsurkunden (Vienna, 1907) p. 171, below. 
15 


ily THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SEMITIC LANGUAGES 1,18. 19 


appear before him, and she did not come. But even if O-72N3 referred 
exclusively to the women, it would not be necessary to substitute 
JVaN3 see Kings 83, 35. 

(18) For "955 (© MoO725) we must read * 25, whenever; ef. v.22 
102 for s1055) and 3, 4 (K°*thiv O7°72N2 , Q*re D772N5) also Nah. 


47 ("> for Ta) and 3 “w973 for MA NT, v.14. The i to 
=p is the Waw apodosis (GK™, § 143, d) ef. 7953, 3,4; Sm, 4,11; 


jn", 5,3.6; 7nd" and wymh, 5,6; 7,2; 9,12; ndwv, 5,9; "7904, 
6, 14; yan 34, 9, 1; also “the gloss in Eccl. 5, 6: nv22! rm 27275 
=p =, in many a dream there are vanities. The phrase a) m2 
S04 means: Whenever there is contempt (disrespect, disobedience, on 
the part of the women) there is wrath (on the part of the princes). Heb. 
"72, whenever (Job 39, 25) means lit. in the sufficiency, abundance, 
frequency; for "5 cf. Proverbs 61,6. The Versions did not understand 
the phrase: © PFN FT TIM MOD NWIOI 515" Wai, S adee 
ipRyore [Zepamo, J unde regis justa est indignatio. B’s sie werden 
reden, und zwar nach Gentige Verachtung und Zorn is impossible. 
AV, Thus (shall there arise) too much contempt and wrath. Similarly 
Wd (following R in K) und nach Geniige Verachtung und Verdruss 
(wird es geben) and S und es wird dem entsprechend Geringschitzung 
und Arger (geben) but in his nn. S states correctly that the 72 will 
be on the part of the ladies, and the Sp on the part of their husbands. 


(19) For the phrases 35% apr! = >> on (cf. 3,9) and "3775 257% 
Pe, m see Kings 137, 17. 

The omission of 4557275 after "M4 is intentional; 6, however, has 
9 Baciiuooa instead of "mt; S$ jaaSs udeo. Contrast n. on 45534 
instead of "MTN in 4, 4. 

fA pmiyad (S$ a2;ou8) means simply to another woman; ef. Pi 
1S 28, 17 (44795 is gloss) and Neh. 2, 1 (see Kings 74, 7). 

fA TDA. ADIN does not mean who is more beautiful than she 
(this would be HN NDI; cf. v. 11; 2, 2.3.7) but who is better than 
she, who is superior to her. G* yuvatxi xpe(rrow atris, G* dAAyn Kpeirrove 
oven aitys, J altera quae melior est illa, AV unto another that is better 
than she. The new queen is to be just as beautiful as Vashti, but of 
a sweeter disposition, not so ill-tempered. The idea of the author was 
no doubt that Vashti’s refusal to obey the King’s command was simply 
due to her bad humor (so, correctly, S, ad v. 12) although N (EB 1403) 
says, It has been well remarked by A. H. Niemeyer that the most re- 
spectable character in the Book is Vashti who declines to exhibit her 
charms before the crowd of revelers. According to T? (224, 27; 237, 30) the 
King commanded the Queen to appear naked (RMD "w7y) before his guests. 

16 


1, 20-22 CriticAL NoTES oN ESTHER 110153 


- (20) The clause R34 WA "D (omitted in G; S unlos, “\AsS) is 
concessive: although it is great, however great it be; cf. Proverbs 39, 
35; OLZ 10, 65, n. 3; Nah. 39 (ad Jer. 50,11). S renders correctly: so 
gross es ist; but the explanation given in his nn. is not satisfactory (cf. 
n. on 4, 7). 

According to B the phrase yop 33 Ssan725 means here, not noble 
and mean (so, correctly, Schultz and §; cf. pwr and Dwar, v.16) 
as in v. 5, but old and young. © a6 rrwxod ews tAovalov, S" ad TrWXGv 
éws 7Aovotwv. 

(22) Heb. "BD (?. e. séfr; see Nah. 29, below) is an Assyr. loan- 
word and means originally message = Assyr. Sipru; see Kings 198, 47. 
Assyr. Saparu, to send is a Saphel of 95; see Nah. 24, below; cf. n. 
on 5pw (3, 9). 

The last clause of c. 1, Ay wWw>5 "2771; which is omitted in 6’, 
is a late gloss; in Meg. 12° (Br. 3, 581) the phrase {M722 “7D is dis- 
cussed, but there is no reference to Ay "1055 "2771. The meaning 
is: he is to talk plainly to her, as we say to talk plain English or United 
States, Ger. mit dem werde ich einmal Deutsch reden, French je vais 
lui parler francais or je vous le dis en bon francais; cf. my remarks on 

|, JBL 19, 66. The modern Yiddish phrase is mamme léshen 
es to talk in the mother tongue (mamme=mamma, mother, and 
léshen= Ww, tongue). An Alexandrian Jew in such a case talked to 
his wife, a in Hebrew, but in the language of his people, 7. e. in plain 
Greek, just as a Jewish rabbi in Berlin would talk to his wife in such a 
case, not in Hebrew, but in German; cf. the last n. on 8, 9. But r7 
mutpiw pwvy (2 Mace. 7, 8. 21. 27) does not mean in der Landessprache 
(so Kamphausen in K) but in the paternal (or ancestral) language, 
i.e. in Hebrew (or Aramaic). The language of the country would be 
7 émixwpios dovy. Lat. patrius sermo is in Greek: 7 idia yA@rra. 

3 et hoc per cunctos populos divulgari (AV that it should be pub- 
lished according to the language of every people) is a guess. fx 
“Ay W252 [27725 could not have this meaning, even if we pointed 

“303 instead of aa - The emendation ay as 3) 22 “2721 (pro- 
posed by Hitzig and accepted by Rawlinson, ‘Reuss, Orelli, O, 
B, R, K; but not by Wd and S) is impossible (cf. n. on 5,11). In the 
first slate: we should expect 45 > 5D (cf. 3, 8; 5,12) and even if we 
read 45 ; rw 55 Badal s a0 could mean only and talk what is proper 
for him, implying a restriction; =e jou means it is meet and right. 
To talk as he pleases would be 427793 72772" (cf. 1, 8; 9, 5) or MAND 
WWE) or WA VSMD. For ywd5 read Ww2a; ef. “a for “5, v. 18. 
S ass a y+] “sets follows M. T interprets: phsyaya Sate yal) 
ray Sas Ns yo. MS; & ey pwd I Soe. 

17 


114 THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SEMITIO LANGUAGES 2,15 


a 


(1) fA "Tw AN “DT, he remembered Vashti means he could not 
forget her; he thought of her with affection and was inclined to reinstate 
her. The insertion of the negative in GY ot« éri euvyjoOy is just as gratui- 


tous as in Eccl. 11,9 or in S$ |d%eou9 pam= codes Ho at the end of ¢. 2; 
cf. the remarks on 54) yan yar? x in Nah. 26. 

(3) Hl S573 55 MN is correct; contrast S and GK", 5 ai Rs cf. 
the three Pharisaic glosses in Eccl. 3, 15: EP" =p apa) twa 


7, 7: TVA DOM’ TAN; 3, 11: ODd5a 2 DsssI-MN O35; see 
Nah. 32. For MX ef. Proverbs 51, 17. According to B. Luther (in 
EN S79s 119) “5S no my (Ex. 2, 1) means, not a daughter of Levi, a 
Levitess, but the daughter of Levi, so that Moses would be a grandson 
of Jacob. 


For S35 (in the scribal expansion derived from v. 8)* read "375. as 
in v. 8. J Hgeus, 5 wa; 6 Tau, as though the initial | were the 
article, while G" substitutes in the present gloss: Twyatos, and in the 
original passage (v. 8): Bovyaios. For these two names in 6" see below, 
ad 3,1; cf. the remarks on Bovydaios = povxatos = ja in nn. on 1, 14. 

(5) For the introductory clause cf. the beginning of the Book of Job. 
fA FF is pluperfect; cf. n. on Frwy (1, 9). We must translate: Now 
there had been (for a long time) a Jewish man in the Acropolis of Susa. 

The name "577% is derived from the name of the chief god of 


Babylon, Marduk (Pur. 10, 26) = fa 72 2 instead of 3772 (with 4; 
cf. yia7o). Cf. the remarks on the transposition of vowels in nn. on 
DAWN (1,1). The form =a rma, given in Baer’s JX, is better than 
the usual punctuation "55772 (3 Sens but the original pronunciation 


must have been "297 2 (leds = 6 Mapdoxaios, I Mardocheeus; see 


Ezra 58,41. © combines the name with N°357 NAM, pure myrrh. G, 
as a rule, prefixes the article, 6 Mapdoyaios; cf. 6 Movyxaios = 722 (1, 14) 
and 6 “Aypaaios = mia (4,9) also 6 Apay in 6" (5,9) where G* omits 
the article, and 6 Tvef. = "FR (see Kings 192, 23). The Herodotean pro- 
totype of M is Otanes; the Maccabean prototype is Jonathan (see 
Pur. 8, 22; 6, 36) but the name M is Babylonian. The author of E 
would not have given his Jewish hero and heroine (for E=IStar see 
above, p. 101) names connected with heathen deities, unless M (6 Mapdo- 
xaios) and E had been the familiar names of some favorite characters in 
the popular festal legends and dramatic plays (Pur. 38, 31) for the 

*Cf. the scribal expansions (derived from 8, 13) at the end of 8,11 and 8, 3 (derived 
from 9, 25) also the glosses at the end of 9, 2 and 3 (derived from the end of c. 8) and the 


two scribal expansions (derived from 9, 22 and 10) in 9,16. See furthernn. on 57974 MAF 
and 30M ™ AW (6, 2) and second n. on 6, 8. 


18 


2,6.7 CriTIcAL NotEes on ESTHER TUS) 


(Babyl. and) Persian New Year’s festival (Pur. 11, 31). According to 
Ch (EB 3198) M derived his name, not from Marduk (so, too, C 50, be- 
low) but from Jerahmeel: Abihail is most probably a popular corruption 
of Jerahmeel, Kish =Cushi, and the true name of M may have been 
Carmeli; cf. the Jerahmeelitish explanations of the names Vashti (1, 9) 
and Shethar, Tarshish (1, 14) and contrast IN 400,/1. 

(6) Al TON "BVI" WN refers to "37772; the PIOD FO should 
be after wp; contrast last n.on 1,14. The genealogy, 2 PNT TS 
wp ja "wD, is parenthetical. Jair (about 600 B.c.) is M’s father; 
Shimei (about 1000 8. c.) and Saul’s father, Kish (about 1050) are two 
of his famous ancestors; cf. the complete genealogies of M in © 7,6; @ 
2,5. C52 deems it impossible that Kish in the present passage repre- 
sents the father of Saul. Tf inserts between Shimei and Kish the name 
of Shimei’s father, Gera. Shimei is named, because he considered him- 
self at least as good as David; just as M, the descendant of the first 
king of Israel, considered himself at least as good as the barbarian H 
(see ad 3,4). M is introduced as a descendant of Saul, not as a son of 
David, because under the reign of the Maccabean princes descendants of 
David were not persone grate (see Pur. 23,31). For ="X{" = ""N79, the 
Heb. form of the Jewish name Meier , Meyer, &c, see BA 1, 170, below. 

For “ITS 123 we had better a) "572523 = = 6 NaBovyodovocop = 
Babyl. Nabt-kudurri- -ucur. For the correct pronunciation of mis- 
pointed cuneiform names see Kings 270, 16. The best form is the 
Kethiv in Jer. 49, 28: "[EN 75D 903. The o of the final syllable seems 
to be preserved also in "4359D723 (Ezr. 2,1) unless the 4 is merely 
due to dittography of the "3; cf. the remarks on ‘DI"7WMN (1, 1) for 

wyUn is. The & (which was assimilated to the preceding consonant; 
cf. Nos 7 = xift=xit’, SFG 11, below; VG 127, 8) is found also in 
the spelling “N7755123; the “ instead of 5 (cf. nn. on OS Aes ite 
= Assyr. uradsu) in “ZN"775D923. The n instead of r is due to dissimi- 
lation (contrast Aram. 7°47 for 7°5M). We have no right to restore 
throughout “ZN 77D) (with "3 and §) just as it would be pedantic 
to substitute in the text of an English author sycomore for sycamore, or 
Nazirite for Nazarite. The omission of the & and the substitution of 
3 for = no doubt represent the actual pronunciation. The 3 is certainly 
not due to graphic corruption, while the alleged preservation of the o in 
the final syllable “4:3 (Zzra 26, 51) may be due to dittography of the *. 

(7) HM Fow, Myrtle (cf. Muppivn, Mvptras, &c) corresponds to the 
Babyl. xadassatu, bride; for TF = 5 and O=cuneiform Ww see 


Pur. 39, 20.* This name is not given in GY"; 3 Hdissa; 3 x91. The 


* According to TBAI 166. n. 3, FO GM is doubtless derived from 9TW(N]. Cf. Ch’s 
explanation of "D4 (1, 9). 


19 


116 THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SEMITIC LANGUAGES 2,9 


stems of Assyr. xadaSSatu (with .) and Syr. (Zope (RFIM, SG, 
§ 26, B, with ) are not identical; but Aram. NON, myrtle may be a 


contraction of xadaSSatu (see Pur. 39, 23) and #O3M may be con- 
nected also with Adaca (= TSIM 5 Nova) i.e. the name of the place 
where Nicanor, the prototype of H (Nah. 26,1; 30, 4) was defeated on 
the 13 of Adar, 161 B.c. (Pur. 9, 26). Alasa, the name of the place 
where Judas Maccabzeus was slain, may be an intentional alteration of 
Adasa; see Pur. 38, 39. 

fA i495 ma, the daughter of his uncle (the brother of his father) 
means, of course, his cousin (cf. the extract from Maqrizi in L, Purim, 
p. 13) not his niece. Wd (169, below) calls E M’s cousin, but in the 
introduction to c. 2 he refers to her as M’s niece; so, too, p. 181, 1. 10; 
on p. 186 (bis) he calls M E’s uncle. The same mistake is made by N 
(EB 1400-7) and S (149, 1. 8 from the bottom). Cf. also W 17. 18; C 49, 
10; 57, 17; 78,15. In C 53,8 E’s father, Abihail, is said to be a cousin 
of M. B (400) has correctly cousin, not niece. VY inserts between Ovya- 
Typ and ddeAod zratpos airod the name ApewadaB; see nn. on vy. 15, 

fA “NM ms" refers to the figure; FN W NDI, to the face; "RN 
cannot be derived from JN, it is a secondary modification of 34M, 
turn in the sense of form, shape; cf.n.on "pan (Cant. 7, 2) AJSL 
18, 217. The a in "NF is ona par with the Pathah furtive. Cf. also 
Kings 167, 37. : 

Instead of mad @Srma ab) FIMp>) GY (éraidevcey aitnv éavTd) eis 
yovatxka seems to have read nn}. According to Rabbi Meir (Meg. 133, 
quoted C 62, below; J 46, below) we should read mon} instead of nn; 
of. BT 3, 584 (read wbx nb "spn SN NT "D7 Dw Non). 
The word A", house is used in dee Talmud for wife. The original 
form of MD, howse was ba’t, see AJSL 22, 258, below; for bat=bint, 
daughter see Pur. 50, 25. 3, correctly, Mardocheeus sibi eam adoptavit 
in filiam; $ 12,5 saat nami, @ xmsnd 47> “SW Fad. 

(9) fH praia (@ mw; cf. er taudhha) does not mean he 
hastened (3 accelerare, S$ nz) but he took a special interest; cf. 
French s’empresser (S, betrieb eifrig). The cosmetic treatment could 
not be hastened; a period of twelve months was prescribed by a royal 
decree (v. 12) and E had to await her turn (v. 15). Nor did Hegai 
hasten to send E her meals; she was not starving. But he took a special 
interest in E and gave special-orders concerning her cosmetic treatment 
and her meals; cosmetic treatment without proper diet does not help 
very much. Hegai also devoted special attention to the selection of E’s 
seven maids. His experienced eye saw that E was likely to become 
queen (contrast C 58, 12). 

20 


o 


2,10. 11 CriticAL Notes on ESTHER 18 47; 


For the position after the object of the infinitive => nn> (which 
is more Aram. than Heb.) see K’s Aram. Gr. §§75. 84; GK", § § 142, f, 
n. 2. Cf. Dan. 2, 46: 5D W201) “aN PHT mrss —2, 10: 
Pint SST ND NSA “7 NMWA" Sy WIN VN ND —6, 24: 
NBS To pow aN daw. The clause tba maa md mind, 
which appears in f#l after NPS mvy20, is more appropriate after 


mma bal iia bya rman = mn> is probably a misplaced correc- 
tion of =f rr i: cf. Pur. 47, 41. 

(10) #1 FWSM is pluperfect; cf.n.on Fwy (1, 9). The objec- 
tion raised es several commentators, that ihe Persian officers could not 
fail to discover E’s Jewish extraction, is not valid. The officials in 
charge of a royal harem pay very little attention to the race and faith of 
an odalisque; any girl TN77 MDI ANH Mp° is eligible* E was 
not asked any questions; but, at the advice of M, she did not talk of her 
Jewish extraction, because this might have spoiled her chances of becom- 
ing Queen. 3 quae noluit indicare ei populum et patriam suam is mis- 
leading. See also nn. on 8, 4. 

(11) fA “gm 7255 means opposite (or in front of) the forecourt, $ 
jai 23) Pe, @ 2 !wD m2. oS an pup. M did not enter the 
forecourt of the harem; cf. 4, 2.6. Wd raises the question how it was 
possible that a man could talk toa girl from the royal harem, and how 
her Jewish extraction could be kept secret under those circumstances. 
Similarly N (EB 1401) says that M was able to communicate freely with 
his niece (contrast n.on S353 MD. v.7) in the harem. S states: aber 
die Schwierigkeit, wie M (S, throughout, Mordehai, as though it were 

“M7770 ! cf. n. on 4,7) ohne Hunuch+ zu sein im Frauenvorhofe sich 
blicken lassen durfte und E dort sprechen konnte, geht der spdt-jiid. 
Erzdhler leicht hinweg. The narrator, it may be supposed, knew more 
about Oriental manners and customs than did S; the author did not 
overlook this difficulty, but S overlooked #4 "355. M did not talk to E; 
in c. 4 E sends Hatach to M, and M sends his answers through this 
eunuch. If M walked in the place before the forecourt of the royal 
harem, he could easily get some news concerning the inmates of the 
harem from the eunuchs. By some diplomatic questions he could even 
obtain some special information concerning E without revealing the fact 
that she was his cousin and foster-daughter. He could simply ask, How 
is that beautiful girl in whom Hegai takes so great an interest? See 
also n. on 6, 10. 


*Cf.e.g. F. Marion Crawford’s love story of Old Constantinople: Arethusa, a Prin- 
cess in Slavery, and n. 42 to my lecture on Ecclesiastes in the Oriental Studies (Boston, 1894). 
See also C 63, 3. 

7M may have been a eunuch just as Nehemiah; see Ezra 67, 10 and Pur. 52, 15, also BL 
118,1.9. Cf. the conclusion of n. on 4, 8. 


21 


118 THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SEMITIC LANGUAGES 2,12-15 


(12) For the striking similarity of the first clause of this verse (cf. 
also v. 15) and the statement in Herod. 3, 79 see Pur. 9, 2. Cf. also 
n, on 4, 13. 

The "9m W2w had an antiseptic effect, and purified the skin; the 
paw. perfumed the body; the poyprvan (i.e. lotions, rubbing, mas- 
sage, &c) made the skin white and soft, and peg the figure. 

(13) fa mit means and then (© xai rore, © “ND vat yw 
NNW jail =r “=r 72 45:05) not in this condition (3 Lenc) although 
Wd thinks that it ee have this meaning; 4535 (4, 16) on the other 
hand, means and in this condition, not and then. We find j=") and 


thus also in Eccl. 8,10; cf. AJSL 22, 255, below; contrast GK”, §119, ii; 
GB", 174». 316; BDB 486°, 3. When one of the new inmates of the 
harem was sent to the King, she could get anything she required for this 
purpose, é. g. dresses, jewelry, &c. These things were, of course, not pro- 
vided while she passed from the harem to the palace of the King (as S 
supposes) but before she left the harem; and when she came back from 
the King, she was probably obliged to return the jewelry &c to Shaashgaz 
or Hegai. 

(14) fA "3 cannot mean a second time (B). It does not stand for 
maw (cf. n. in Baer’s edition, p. 72, below). Nor need we, with S, 
emend: AIM (= GY rov devrepov) or ri . SA "3D, a second (not 
the second) is a gloss (omitted in $) just as MND in v.19, and DS DS 
s —w4 in 7, 2, or TWN in 9, 29; cf. the N"3y in Josh. 5, 25 Phe 
odalisques who had spent a night with the King were not transferred to 
another harem, as the glossator supposed; they returned to the same 
house, but they were henceforth under the care of another chamberlain 
(G’, however, has Tau ="379, not 7iwywW). They were probably treated 
with special consideration, inasmuch as any one of them might become 
the mother of a royal prince. 

The name Tew (J Susagazus, 3 pained) should be proves 
Sa‘-8é-gaz, not Sha‘ashgaz; just as 1729" represents ia'-mé-df, 
not ia‘amdfi. In the same way TOW, linsel should be pronounced 
$a‘-té-néz,* not Sa-‘at-nez (AJSL 22, 258). 

GY has Ta (not Tiwyw) also in the present verse; G* Te for Te, see 
Pur. 42,18; cf. dacya for dacra (9,7). For Tac ="3s5 see nn. on v. 3. 
The gloss "Jy presupposes the reading Fwy 

(15) #t mad 15 } mp> “oe 770 Oro ma is a subse- 
quent addition (derived from y. 7 and from the gloss 9, 29) which severs 

*According to TBAI 566 F3QIW should obviously be PA WW, a Shinarite woman. 
On the preceding page Ch states that we must substitute for Thou shalt not seethe a kid in 


his mother’s milk (Ex. 23,19) Thou shalt not clothe thyself with the garment of a Jerahmee- 
lite woman. Cf. Acts 26, 24. 


22 


ee 


2, 16-18 CriticaL Notes on ESTHER 119 


the connection between a =“ 372 and pan Ss x2 ase 

the author had intended to give the name of E’s pee he would ee 
mentioned it inv. 7. G* calls E again (cf. un. on 7) Ovyarnp ApewadaB 
adeAgod zatpos Mapdoxaiov. G ApevadaB = BTID 5 ; ef. Cant. 6, 12 
where 6Y has éero pe dpyara Apewada for ssn mas "IN. 
For "ana we must read eri ayaliae ye have placed me; sa 
means kinsmen of a noble man; see AJSL 18, 214; BL 26,{. Both 
San and ApevadaB = 2“4I-AP are fictitious names emphasizing 
the fact that E’s father was a distinguished man, an psi ups cf 
the names yon and yrs in the Book of Ruth. 

The fact that E did not ask for anything, but took only what Hegai 
suggested, does not show her wisdom and her modesty (B) but her 
superior beauty. S thinks this incident illustrates E’s modesty; he adds, 
however, zugleich machte ihre Schénheit allen weiteren Schmuck tiber- 
fliissig (similarly Wd). 

pal pan D™"D seems to be scribal expansion, derived from v. 14. 

For nNw DD see Kings 119, 24; cf. VG 49, £. 

(16) For nao (Babyl. Tebétu, stem 320)* see my Assyr. E-vowel 
(Baltimore, 1887) p. 11; cf. ZDMG 61, 284, below. For the tenth month, 
Tebeth, G has the twelfth month, Adar. In G® dwdexadrw has subse- 
quently been corrected to dexarw, and Aédap to TnBnf. S # substitutes ei 


«| for Tee (2 et = January, | @le= Deccnbes) just as 5 uses 
we for 77D (8, 9). 
For it LS erg Sap nrwn $ has aZeais\ ~s3] Aas. 


(18) For the scribal expansion "NTN TNWA AN & reads pate 
pedo) Ladeds. k 

SA TTT, GY ddeois (G* adecas) means neither rest (S pa sa 
~ requies) nor @ ee of rest, holiday (B,S) nor exemption from military 
service (ef. AM wa , discharge from the ranks, furlough, Eccl. 8, 8, and 
Her. 3, 67) nor remission of taxes (© NID pi2w; so W 16, below; cf. 
24 and C 73, 6) but release of prisoners (Matt. 27,15). Demetrius I 
(162-150 3. c.) promised to release all Jewish captives in his kingdom 
(1 M 10, 33). If G ddeows meant remission of taxes, it would be an 
Alexandrian adaptation, just as 6 é@povioc6y (1, 2). Remission of taxes at 
festive occasions was customary under the reign of the Ptolemies, but 
not in the Persian empire or in the Seleucidan kingdom. The promises 
of Demetrius I (1 M 10, 25-45) were extravagant, and Jonathan and his 
people gave no credit unto them. *Avecis (dopwv) would be more appro- 
priate than ddeois. Oriental kings are, as a rule, loath to relinquish any 

* Cf. tebétu, signet = Heb. PYDD; seee.g. Moses Schorr, Altbabyl. Rechtsurkun- 
den (Vienna, 1907) p. 117. 

23 


120 THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SEMITIC LANGUAGES 2,18 


taxes; nor would an Oriental monarch ever give 10,000 talents to his 
grand vizier (see ad 3,11). Release of prisoners, even a general pardon, 
or amnesty, is less costly.* il nn is inf. abs. instead of the finite 
verb (GK™, §113, z) as in 2, 3; 6, 9: Tin; 3, 13: MHbwa; 8, 8: 
pimm; 9, 1: Jism; 9, 16: 31 min Tashi; 9, 18: Hin and 
meh ; ef. Nah. 25, below; 27, below, and contrast n. on F284 (9, 6). 
The infinitives 4727, TDM (4, 14) and Fwpa (5, 3; 7, 3) are 
Aramaic rather than Hebrew. Cf. however Arab. sof, irdda, xt 
iqama, &e. 

Instead of the singular Nw (Wd, S: Getreidespende; ef. Jer. 
40, 5) we must point nN, portions (cf. TI, 9, 19. 22) i.e. dishes 
from the royal table or messes (see Pur. 47,11). The nouns mv, 
ORV, mNwa have often been mispointed in fA; see Nah. 42. 3 ac 
dona largitus est juxata magnificentiam principalem; & |beonck nse. 
B says, nxw means according to Am. 5, 11; Jer. 40, 5 gift of grain 
or food. The rendering gift of food (4 rév otrev Oepareia, Xen. Cyrop. 
8, 2,7; cf. ibid. 3 and Anab. 1, 9, 25) is correct, but not gift of grain 
(ctrodocia). In Jer. 40,5 MNiw is preceded by the gloss MN, por- 
tion, ration. eral ; 

A glossator who misunderstood PNwi to mean tribute (cf. 2 Chr. 
24, 6. 9)+ added the gloss which we find in f#l at the beginning of e. 10, 
where it is connected neither with what precedes nor with what follows, 
just as we find at the end of the Book of Canticles two disconnected mis- 
placed glosses, viz. 12, 13 (belonging to 2, 14) and 12, 14 (which belongs 
to 2,17). See remarks on misplaced incorrect glosses in ZDMG 61, 297, 
1. 20; Nah. 48 (vv. 11.6) and 41; also 30 (v. 4) and 25 (v.11). Cf. nn. 
Oia Oy le. Ghallo- ; 

According to AoF 3, 26 the King levied the tax after he had repealed _ 
the decree to exterminate the Jews, because he wanted the money which 
H had promised to pay for the privilege of exterminating the Jews. 
AoF 3, 27 the statement 77> MNwWA NY wy mwW> AMIN 
qn is said to be meaningless; it is suggested that we should read 
instead of nm the singular ecayes- referring to the capital, 7. e. 
Seleucia; MNwWD (or Nw) is supposed to be merely a variant of O73, 
meaning impost; v.18 is taken to be the introduction to 10, 1, which 
should therefore be transferred to c. 10, the elevation of E to the queen- 
ship being the final climax.— This is all gratuitous. 

*Even in 1 M 10, 34; 18, 34 adeors does not mean remission of taxes (aréAcca). Cf.13,39: 
apiewev S€ Vuly ayvonmata Kal Ta anapTHmata Ews THS THMEpov NuEepas and 10, 33 where adinue iS 
used of the release of prisoners; cf. however vv. 29-31. 


+The terms mea, mms, MIM=Assyr. mandattu (for mandantu, from 
andanu, to give= Pj, SFG 43, 2) are euphemisms; cf. AJSL 28, 231, n. 27; Pur. 47, 31. 


24. 


2, 19-22 CriticAL Notes on ESTHER LWA 


(19) VV.19f. is not an érdvodos or retrogressio, as Grotius says, but 
a gloss added by some one who deemed it necessary to explain the 
clause 7227 "WW2 Iw° "TWN. GS omits mm MDM. yapM2, 
also the final clause of the preceding verse, an 5 mXw2 Imm 
for span “ywa aw "D779" GY has 6 8 Mapdoxaios eGeparevey ev TH 
avAy, Which means, according to W 18, below, he had a high position at 
the royal court (cf. 11, 3; 12, 5) but Gepazeveey may mean also to pay a 
visit (cf. Oeparevew tas Ovpas twos) &c. It is not necessary to suppose 
that M had an official position at the royal court (cf. C 75, 8; contrast 
135, below). He may have been a “nbz or tparelirns, 1. e. he may 
have had a money-changer’s table at the King’s Gate, i. e. apparently 
(according to 4, 2.6) the gateway* leading from the City to the Acro- 
polis; cf. last n. one. 3. The King’s Gate of Susa, it may be supposed, 
corresponded in some respects to the Propylea of Athens. But accord- 
ing to @ (259, 27) the gate was between the royal palace and the harem 
(ND TD SY NWI maa 75s7 Nyon). The translation of 
Joan "VWI WWI MATT ITVS ID MwI (6, 10) in G Kai roin- 
cov Mapdoxaiw Td “lovdaiw 76 Kabnuevw ev TH wvAGVi iS More correct than 
the rendering in 6” ovrws roinoov TH M. 76 I. ro Oeparrevovte ev TH addy. 

SM M-Tw is a tertiary gloss; cf. nn. on "9x, v. 14, and 38, 7. 

(20) This verse contains two tertiary glosses to "NON WONT 
Sshaye) jahtehml spa at the end of v. 22 (cf. n. on 3, 7). 

(21) Sal gon “i (GY of apxitwpatopvAakes, JI janitores, $ 
1832 u)4) seems to be misplaced; it should be inserted in v. 22 (see 
below). According to 1,10 (where wm has been displaced by the gloss 
NN52N) Bigthan and Teresh were not on "972072, but belonged to 
the 7oan "2 MN Own Dome myaw. There is a differ- 
ence between chambevlains and members of the body-guard. 

Heb. ze) is a loanword = Babyl. sippu; for xe) instead of sipp 
cf. the remarks on MD, daughter = bint in nn. on vy. 7. 

According to AoF 3, 5 the discovery of the conspiracy is out of 
place in this connection; it should have been given in the beginning, as 
in G, This theory, however, is gratuitous. Cf. the last but one para- 
graph of nn. on WTR (1, 1). 

(22) PA “ITA OWA 75> AMON WANN FDI ANN 75") 
cannot be the original reading, although the Ancient Versions have 
practically the same text: GY Kat énAdOn Mapdoxaiw 6 Adyos, Kal éonpavev 
Eo@np, kai ait evepavocey TO Baorre? Ta THs ewiBovdys. If we substitute 
for #1 "27772 Ow 7d ANON “Wann Dd “MCND the name 
yar, everything becomes perfectly natural and consistent; see Pur. 

* Cf, the cut on p 178 of the translation of Ezekiel in SBOT. 

25 


122 THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SEMITIC LANGUAGES 2, 23 


37, 20. We may add to ward the statement "385" NNN 3 from 
3, 1 (see below) and tn """a101a (see Pur. 38, 5). How the received 
text originated I cannot tell. We have a similar confusion of names* in 
7,9 where 6* have Bovya6ay (= Wiss; GS Bovlabay = ynr2) instead of 
mz27n, and we find a similar transposition in 1 K 10, 1 where the 
clause 7 ow belongs to v. 25 of c. 9; see Kings 114, 36; cf. also 
the remarks on misplaced glosses in Nah. cited above, in nn. on y, 18 
and the remarks on transpositions, Nah. 37. 

(23) #1 5m" means they were impaled (see Pur. 6, 22) or crucified 
(B) not they were hanged (Reuss, Wd,S). Cf. Herod. 3, 159; also Josh. 
8, 29; 10, 26. The King says in 7, 9: 59 mdr, i. e. impale him 
upon it. Nor does YP mean to hang (see Numbers 59, 51). © 
Novp Sy Vn wSoEN, S bate] Ss onsiz cacgle. It is 
true that -259]/ means, as a rule, to be crucified + (especially in the NT; 
teuc]=}es.s,) but Assyr. zuqqupu means to impale; cf. KAT’, 378. 
616. Gibbeting of the offender, or part of the offender, after death is in 
Assyrian ina gasiSi alalu, to tie to a stake (AJSL 1, 230; HW 70°. 
207°. 2614, below). Greek oravpés means not only cross, but denotes also 
the upright stake to which the delinquent was bound, when no tree was 
at hand, or on which he was impaled (see Pwr. 6, 23). 

In the clause qn —=25 Ow “27 7502 2n>D™ & inserts the 
negative: -adto Seps ]AScos jpam> acds jlo; cf.n.onv.1. The nega- 
tive is, of course, impossible (cf. 6, 2) but $ ic shows that the translator 
realized the difficulties in the received text. 

SH apa "355 does not mean in the presence of the King, but to 
be presented (or submitted) to the King; at the disposal of the King 
(cf. Gen. 24, 51) or for the King, so that they might be 55355 D°N"p3 
=n (6, 1). The King had given orders to record all important events 
so that he might have an accurate account of all that had happened 
whenever he called for it. If extracts from newspapers are collected 

Sm 755, the King does not superintend the clipping; nor does he 
read all the clippings. Similarly we find in the gloss 3, 7: S97. 
yan alse) ey: "75, i.e. the lot was cast for H; he had given orders 
that the lot be cast so that he might learn the result, but it is not 
necessary to suppose that H was present while the lot was cast; contrast 
Pur. 15,5. Cf. also BL 117, below, and Mal. 3, 16; Is. 65, 6. 


* Cf. also the confusion of names discussed in AJSL 28, 227, 1. 6 and the confusion be- 
tween H and M (see Pur. 3, 26) in S, referred to in n. on 7,8. See also Daniel 29,15; ZDMG 
61, 294, 1.12; and Weissbach’s article Euphrates in Pauly-Wissowa’s encyclopx- 
dia, §4 (according to Hesychius the Jews called the Euphrates EéSexeA), 

+ Cf. also L, Purim, p. 9, below (duo) 

Pas 


3,1 CriticaL Notes on ESTHER 123 


We must add at the end of c. 2 the statement "5 37" NY) qn ra 

yan TA "57770; see Pur. 37, 20-43. It is not necessary to say 
ie MS Ts (cf. 3,4; 4,4; GK’, § 117, fy. Nor need we substitute 
"Up NS Xs (2 K 17, 4). 


a 


(1) For the omission of "3387 SNF 2 after yan in the present 
passage see ad 2,22. GV’ has simply Apav a6 “3aN7 NNW iS yan i 
ow 7 in v. 10; so, too, 6. H represents the name of the prin- 
cipal deity of the Elamites (contrast n. on "577979, 2, 5) Humba, 
Humman, Amman, &e (see Pur. 10, 24). The double m of this 
ancient Elamite (or Susian) name is preserved in certain MSS of 6% 
(Appar). Also the name of H’s father (NNTAT 1, G "Apddabos, J Ama- 
dathus) is not Persian, but connected with the name of the chief deity 
of the Elamites. The initial Fj of NAIM is certainly not the article 
(LB Medatha) cf. GY Ta: for se See ad 2,3). The u-vowel of Hum- 
man appears in Strabo’s Quavos kat “Avadaros (Pur. 26, 10). Rawlin- 
son combined H with ’Quarvyns. G* Apav in Tob. 14, 10 is a subsequent 
corruption or adaptation (Pwr. 51, 5). GY has there Adap, 6° Nadaf. 
Nadab is given also in the Vetus Latina, while the Syriac Version has 
‘Akab; cf. EB 5112 and the various readings in Tob. 11, 18. 

H is neither Persian nor Hebrew (Pur. 12, 16). In the apocryphal 
letter of the King (16, 10) Apav ’Apaddabov Maxndav (G* 6 Bovyaios) is called 
GAXOTpios TOD Tov Hepody aiuatos (6 dpovyparos) and in M’s prayer (13, 
12) H is called trepndavos (cf. AJSL 23, 235, 1. 6) but in the correspond- 
ing verse of G" (5, 15 in L’s edition) dzepitunros. He may have been an 
officer of the (colored) Susian body-guard of the Persian kings (Pur. 
38, 5). 

SA WING (Ss els 5 de stirpe or de progenie Agag, © 358 N72; 
cf. below) is a subsequent adaptation of the original "3NI, the Gagean 
or northern barbarian; see Ezekiel 99,32. Cf. the remarks on 6 Mov- 
xatos = je". (1,14). In Num. 24, 7 (a Messianic passage added during 
the Greek period) all the Greek Versions have Twy=3X)5 instead of 
338. In 6 the correct rendering of "5N3, Twyaitos, which we find in 
some MSS (Pur. 42, 14) of G has been replaced by Bovydios, which is 
not a gentilicium (Bovyatos) but the Homeric term of reproach Bovyaios 
braggart, lit. boasting like a bull; see Pwr. 13. H’s contemporary pro- 
totype (Pur. 12, 3. 9) Nicanor (see Nah. 26) was a braggart; cf. 1 M 7, 
34.47 and the Talmudic passage Taanith 18” (Pur. 5, 27) also the remark 
on tizepydavos in the preceding paragraph of the present n. In 5, 12 6 
has instead of GY xai etrev Apav, OU KéxAnkev 7 Bacidiooa KTA:— Kal éxav- 
X70 réywv ws ovdeva KEKANKEY 7 BaciAtooa. KTH. 

27 


124 THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SEMITIC LANGUAGES 8,2 


Nicanor is a common Macedonian name. In 9, 24; 16, 10 6 substi- 
tutes 6 Maxedév for "SINT ="3NIT. Hl "3INM means the Agagite, 
i. e. the descendant of Agag, the king of the Amalekites (© "33 yan 


po "2 3558 me-y77d “| NNW.) who was spared by Saul, but 
fee in pieces before Java at Gilgal by Samuel (1 S 15, 33) whereas M 
is introduced as a descendant of the first king of Israel (see ad 2, 6). 
Josephus, therefore, calls H an Amalekite; cf. L, Purim 50 and IN 389. 
The reading "3358 instead of "383 must have been established in the 
first cent. B. Cc. 

For Twyaios = "ANS and T'wy = 595 (for 385) Ez. 38,2 cf. 3H =230 
(for taiab) good; mix = TN (=4iat) sign; "MIN = Assyr. ati, iati, 
Aram. “ne (see Proverbs 51, 7) me; post-Biblical 353 = "483 = TN; 
Assyr. nadu (AJSL 20, 170) skin-bottle; "3 = "N's, AGpa ; 2 
(Deut. 32, 32)=wN"=r48, poison; O1D = cD (Arab. rS) cup; &> 
=), not; DNT=MNT, Eth. wh: zati; DIN, balances; “Da 
= "OND , fetter; by = 53 = Nn = Assyr. malu=ma’alu (stem 
Jo; see Pur. 17, 1) front; SE = NS, Aram. NZ, flocks; 3x" = 
ras, ra’s, head; 7"NO, @. Vid for WNo, INO; IND, Eth. YA: 
San, Assyr. Sénu, shoe; see ad 1, 5. 

For Wn’s untenable combination of "338 (="3N5) with Assyr. 
agagu and Arab. (= hajjaj, tyrant see Pur. 42, 21. 





From the Greek point of view the Macedonians were northern bar- 
barians, and the Jews regarded the Samaritans as northern barbarians. 
This explains why H is called both a Macedonian and a Gagean; it 
also throws some light on the epithet of John Hyrcanus (cf. W 36, below). 
This Maccabean prince conquered the Samaritans and destroyed the 
temple on Mt. Gerizim in 128 8.c. Hyreanus may mean Conqueror of 
the Hyrcanians, i. e. Samaritans; cf. Scipio Africanus, &e.* The 
Samaritans, it may be supposed, were called Hyrcanians owing to the 
admixture of foreign colonists from the North (cf. mye) in w 120, 5).+ 


In the Talmud the Samaritans are called Cutheans (E°M 5) 7. e. inhabi- 
tants of Cutha, NE of Babylon. H corresponds, in some respects, to 
Sanballat, Tobiah, and Geshem; see Pur. 52, 16. 

(2) For the meaning of yD cf. JAOS 22, 73. 


*The founder of the dynasty of Reuss, Henry I, was called Ruzze, Reusse, or Ruthene 
owing to his exploits against the Poles or Western Russians about 1247; cf. Resch, Uber 
den Ursprung des dynastischen Namens Reuss (Gera, 1874). The Gymnasium illustre at 
Gera is known as Rutheneum. Cf. the title of the Czar: Selbstherrscher aller Reussen, 
French autocrate de toutes les Russies (i. e. Great Russia, Little Russia, White Russia, &c). 


+Similarly the Greeks used Hyperboreans as a general name for the inhabitants of 
northern countries, and the Hungarians are often called Huns; contrast THCO 162. 


28 


hd Nae 


3,46 CriticaL NotEes on EstHER 125 


fa 55 means concerning him; TS "4459. H received this high 
rank WA75; see ad 1, 15. 

(4) The Kethiv pyaxa (© pn im>>7a2) is better than the Qeré 
DUNS - The Q°ré would mean as soon as they said (ef. Ww, 4. 1s 
ninn>, 5, 2.9) but B7NI means zn (spite of) their saying; cf. a5 
NT. we. Hor j= 5 cf nu. on “755,' 1, 16: 

fl "TST NO wrx od 7A 7D is an erroneous explanatory gloss 
to "559779 "727 which does not mean the words of Mordecai (as in 4, 9) 
but the attitude of Mordecai; ef. n. on Sot nat lee For 
incorrect glosses ef. Nah. 41, 1. 3; 48, 1.7; ZDMG 61, 297, n. 115. Sal 
"57972 "25 W2rs7 is equivalent to whether M would persist in his 
attitude (3 utrum perseveraret in sententia; LB ob solches Thun Mar- 
dachais bestehen wiirde). M’s Jewish extraction was probably unmis- 
takable so that it was unnecessary for him to tell any one that he was a 
Jew. He was known as 5 Spal, alidabha| Saahashal Ssimbal (Gis 
10 and n. on 2, 19).* E, on the other hand, may have been an Oriental 
beauty without any pronounced Jewish features so that she was able to 
conceal her extraction (cf. n. on 2, 10). The fact that M was a Jew 
would be no satisfactory explanation for his refusal to prostrate himself 
before H. The ancient Israelites did not object to the zpooxwvyats; cf. 
e.g.28 14, 4; 18, 28; 1 K 1,16. The reason for M’s refusal to bow 
before H was different (see Pur. 37, 40; cf. n.on 7,6). Similarly M’s 
ancestor, Shimei, of the family of Saul, refused to bow before David, and 
threw stones at him, although the King was surrounded by his body- 
guard; and the King did not punish him, just as H disdains to punish 
M, fearing, perhaps, that M’s services in connection with the discovery 
of the conspiracy against the King would become known, if he tried to 
punish M (see Pur. 12, 40). If H succeeded in obtaining permission for 
a general massacre of all the Jews (cf. AJSL 23, 225, n. 4) the killing of 
M would attract no attention (cf. also C 93, 21). Certain Russian officials 
would adopt the same course in the 20‘ century; see Pur. 35, 9; 48, 18. 
27. 32. 46; 44, 1. 

(6) The clauses "57°70 DY MN ab) “Ta "D>, after a5 , and 

Dain) jets at the end of this verse, are glosses to E™T bs ms; 
cf. second n. on vy. 4. Both glosses are omitted in 6” which pe for y. 
6 of fl simply: Kai éBovretcato adavicat ravtas Tovs imo Tiv “Aptaképsov 
Bactrctav “Tovdaious = mina satelss. leh yiqhah hm SS ne saw wpan 
WAIWMN. It is certainly unnecessary to read "577579 DY instead of 


"9 DD. 


*‘ Schnorrer is said to have introduced himself to a distinguished Jewish banker of 
Berlin, stating, Mein Name ist Hirsch, whereupon the banker replied, Das seh’ ich. See the 
cut representing Jewish captives in Assyria on p. 205 of Wellhausen’s translation of 
the Psalms in the Polychrome Bible. 


29 


126 THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SEMITIC LANGUAGES 8,7 


(7) V. 7 is a misplaced * later addition (to 2455 “wr sobs 
“IN SIN SW Wwy ow inv. 13) introducing a subsequent popular 
etymology of O75, which is just as fanciful as the Biblical explana- 
tions of 525, 3, MCB, TON, &c or the interpretation of NI NM 
WONT Spn in Dan. 5, 26-28; see Pur. 2,37; 15,21; 18,17; SFG 25, 
below; BAL 99,n.1. Also the second passage in E (9, 25) where “45 
is explained to mean lot is a subsequent addition. 

The emendation of Grotius and Fritzsche, xAjpov instead of ipav 
in the apocryphal addition 16, 22, is very doubtful; it is not probable 
that the characteristic xAypwv should have been corrupted to ipéy (ef. the 
remarks on the emendations dpyjs for atAjs in 7, 4; ppan for mip in 
9,16; 255 for wD" in nn. on 8, 10; also AJSL 22, 197, 1. 15 and Nah. 
26, below). © éy rats érwvipos tov éoprais is generally interpreted to 
mean among the feasts named after yourselves (i.e. according to C. J. 
Ball,+ among your own Persian festivals or as if the word Purim 
were connected with the word Persians) but éxovypo éoprai may refer to 
the days on which the dpxwv érwvvpos was appointed (cf. évavros exdv- 
pos &c). This institution existed among the Assyrians and Babylo- 
nians. The cuneiform term for eponymy is limu; see HW 379»; cf. 
the Lists of Eponyms in KB 1, 204-214; also AoF 3, 10. 12; KAT®, 
331 (1. 9) and 518; OLZ 10, 332; see also Delitzsch, Mehr Licht 
(Leipzig, 1907) p. 9. 

According to a tradition recorded by Berfini Purim may be the day 


on which the offices were assigned (Jie was Kite cl esall) 
and Purim (sygeNt is said to mean allotting (KeStLine) or distribu- 


tion by lot; see ZDMG 61, 275. Assyr. kararu Sa ptri (Pur. 20, 
below) seems to mean to set up the urn (xadioxos) holding the lots to be 
drawn for the various offices, and this cuneiform piru (HW 169°: baru) 
urn (xéAms) May be connected with Heb. "395, pot, lit. boiler (a form 


Jes of pre yh) and ""N5, glowing hotness (see Nah. 43; cf. 
the remarks on By le, yes, Spey, ATSL 23, 245, 244) also with 


IMD, wine-press, originally vat; cf. the cut in the translation of Joshua 
(SBOT) p. 68 and my translation of Is. 63, 1-6 in JHUC, No. 163, p. 49°. 
According to J. D. Michaelis Nicanor’s Day might have been called 
p=, because the Syrian army was crushed at Adasa as grapes are 
pressed in a wine-vat; see Pwr. 51, 38. 


*Cf. the last but one paragraph of nn. on 2,18 and the misplaced glosses in 2, 19. 20, 
also the gloss BP "ND M5" in Y, 16. 

+See the Variorum Apocrypha, London (Eyre & Spottiswoode). 

tThe original form of this word is not B°475, but 7D for 73D = Ved. parti, 
portion; seen. on Q, 26. 


30 


3,7 CriticAL Notes oN ESTHER 127 
For 45, wine-vat cf. also Hag. 2, 15. 16 where we must read:— 
sa ap avy psaa> Naw Ans 15 
FONT | S72 «jaNn'y’ JAN DW ows 





mw An Dey MATON NA 16 
Sw ANT BA pwn Fin x2 
Ap"n ON 16 (6) TIM 15 (2) 


For 3, how? cf. "M2 MX 2 (Ruth 3, 16) and Assyr. mi-nu, 
how? (see n. on iN, 1, 12). For Na, in the second couplet, read 
N23 (cf. Hag. 1,9). The omission of [275 in the second hemistich of 
vy. 16 is due to the omission of [375 in the last hemistich; contrast 
opyab} rizvt1 (1, 9) where the prefixed > is emphatic; cf. n. on 455 
(7, 8). The omission of the prefixed 74 before 7775 is due to haplo- 
graphy; for the enjambement* in the last line cf. AJSL 23, 240 and the 
second line of Nah. 2, 11 (Nah. 50). 

The plural of 77D may have been H™ 1D (Pur. 20, 24; 51, 26) and 
Sma etw wij “hp 5S°=> in the present verse is rendered in 3: missa est 
sors in urnam quae Hebraice dicitur phur. The translation of 
Saat x17 VD SS in G 9, 24, Hero Uyndicpa Kal KAjpov, Means he 
cast a ballot, that is a lot, xaé in this connection is explicative and cor- 
rective (cf.n.on 1,17). For 6’s translation of S337 SW ow Sen 
in the present passage see below, n.on >*=>5. 

There is no Persian word for lot from which == = 553 could be 
derived; Pers. Sy yl, %b, r do not mean lot (see Pur. 45, 42) 


nor could they appear in Heb. as "45. The Iranian word for lot is 
dhins pisk. There may have been a word 5 (connected with "775, 
potand 7B, vat)=Assyr. pfiru, urn; butif O15 was combined 
with "75, urn it was merely a subsequent popular etymology which 
may have been suggested to a glossator by the use of M273, part, por- 
tion in the sense of lot, destiny+ as well as by the oracular practices 
observed on New Year’s eve (Pur. 17, 38; 18,27; 21, 33; cf. also C 101,8) 
and the allotting of offices at the beginning of the year (AoF 8, 10). 
Lostage (Days of the Lots) is the Ger. term for days on which it is 
possible to forecast the future (Pur. 18, 28). At the Chinese New Year’s 


* Contrast Budde’s Geschichte der althebr. Litteratur (Leipzig, 1905) p. 26, 1. 8. 

j According to Glaser (OLZ 9. 320) Heb. 7 (see Kings 163, n. *) may mean part, por- 
tion, lot, oracle (ef. Pur. 45, 3). As to 33DN, Glaser thinks, it is not a loin-cluth= 
ib,: fota or bio maqtab (see the translation of the Psalms in SBOT, p. 224, 
fig. s) but a band or scarf like the stole worn by Roman Catholic priests, or the pall of the 
Pope, archbishops, &c, and the eave} of the Jews. Cf. the Byzantine ®uodopror, 

31 


128 THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SEMITIC LANGUAGES $57 


festival the priest produces a box with small ivory chips variously 
inscribed. If the lot marked wisdom comes out, it means more wisdom 
for the man for whom the lot is drawn, Similar oracular practices may 
have prevailed at the celebration of the Persian New Year (Naur6z) in 
the times of the Maccabees. Cf. the statement of Bertini, quoted in 
ZDMG 61, 277, on the same day (Naur6éz= Purim) the happy lots are 
distributed among the people of the earth (wlolewt prmniiS Rasy 
Ue) 9t As). The casting of the lots for the two goats on the Day of 


Atonement* may be a purified form of some Baby]. oracular practice at 
the beginning at the second half of the year (Pur. 3, 39; 4, 2. 20. 26. 33; 
33, 14; 49, 26). 

E is a festal legend for Nicanor’s Day, just as the Book of Nahum is 
a festal liturgy for the celebration of that great victory gained by Judas 
Maccabzeus over Nicanor on the 13 of Adar, 161 B.c. (OLZ 10, 64; 
ZDMG 61, 275). This commemoration of Nicanor’s Day was combined 
with the observation of the Persian New Year’s festival (celebrated at 
the time of the vernal equinox) which is no doubt based on the Babyl. 
New Year’s festival (Pur. 3, 3; 4,39; 11,27; 19,10). In the Talmud the 
cuneiform name of the New Year’s Festival, akitu, aqitu+ appears as 
NMVIPN (which is an adaptation of NM"pN) while Naurdz is corrupted 
to pT (for J?"T172, TIT). See ZDMG 61, 276. 

The original meaning of O35 (=Naur6z=Akitu) is not lots, 
but portions, Heb. A372; see n. on Y, 26. 

In casting lots in order to determine what day would be most 
unlucky for the Jews and therefore most auspicious for the general 
massacre planned by H (cf. L, Purim, p. 8, 1. 13) they did not try every 
single day of the year until they finally hit on the 13™ day of the 12 
month. They might have put 12 lots, marked from 1 to 12, into the urn 
(Assyr. pfiru) and 30 lots marked from 1 to 30; then it was only neces- 
sary to draw two lots. But the phrase 2 4N5 247725 p> Ov shows 
that this simple procedure was not used at that time. They tried first 
the first day, then the second, and so forth; when the lot decided in 
favor of the 13™ day, they tried to determine the month. In this way it 
was necessary to cast the lot 25 times before they hit on the 13™ day of 
the 12 month. Cf. my remarks on Urim and Thummim in JBL 19, 


*For the reason why the Day of Atonement was observed during the Babylonian Cap- 
tivity on the 1st of Tishri, while the New Year was to be celebrated on the 10th of Tishri, see 
conclusion of n. on 9, 3l. 

+In the new texts found during the German excavations at Kal’at Shergat (ASSur) 

5 qiran (see 
sy q ( 


Kings 208, 15; MDOG, No. 33, p. 34; ef. the photograph of the bit akiti, ibid. p. 30). This- 
shows that the etymology of akitu, given in Pur. 31,3, is correct. Akitu appears in the 
Talmud as NMLUPN, while NP appears in Assyrian as ND; cf. VG 122, also the 
remarks on “9D =karu (BL 132) and 3ODY=tupSarru in Nah, 34, and AJSL 28, 246. 


32 


Assyr. akitu appears as a synonym of kirétu= P95 (2 K 6, 23) and 


3,8 CriticaAL Notes on ESTHER 129 


73, n. 61 and Numbers 57, 41. Adar means dAvyaios in Assyrian; the 
13 of Adar was a dies ater kar’ é&oynv (Pur. 82, 33). 

fa 5°55 is impersonal; so Keil, Schultz, R in K,S; LB ward 
das Loos geworfen vor H; cf. the translation in J, quoted above, missa est 
sors, and the translation of Leviticus (SBOT) p. 62, 1. 54; see also Kings 
289, 19 and nn. on yon wy (5, 14) and ans" & (8, 10). It is not 
necessary to read, with O, “5°; contrast 6, 9 where O reads pt 
instead of woads . According to B, Sp refers to H, and the 
explanation of "99 is not merely S55 NI, as in 9, 24, but SI 
yan 55 ST. sl yan "955, however, must be connected with 
“Mp DBT: — yan 72D Os Nw) WD SEH. Even if we read 
yarn instead of yan "955, as Wd suggests, the phrase os 
ait) would be very strange. For yan "955 see n. on an "955 
(2, 23). According to & the lots were cast by the scribe Shimshai (cf. 
Hzra 4, 8.17. 23 and C 103). @ also states (ad 6, 1) that the King com- 
manded the scribe Shimshai to bring the Book of Records. % has 
Em Spo [gS wore [p5 wi]; T V2 OTP NAT NT NMI SEN 
(Syr. ixe is apparently a transposition of yjdos; see Pur. 45,11). For 
the translation of this clause in GY and G‘ see Pur.16,1. G6" has kat 
Barra KAnpous cis THY TpLoKaideKaTyY TOD pnvos Adap Nucav xrA. Here 
Nicay represents a variant (cf. last n. on 1, 4) to Adéap (it may be derived 
from ffl 7D°5 at the beginning of this verse). 

After #1 wimg we must, with B, R in K, Wd, following 6 xai éGa- 
Aev KAHpous Huepay €€ uepas kal pHva éx pynvds (Wate drrokeoar TO yevos Map- 
doxaiov) kal érecey 6 KANpos cis THY TeToaperKaoeKaTHY TOD pHVds Os éoTW 
Aéap, insert “WDy <> 59 Senn b= wamd>. The Heb. scribe 
skipped this clause owing to the repetition of the word wand. Keil, 
Rawlinson, Schultz regard this plus of G as an interpolation from 
y. 13; nor has S inserted it in his translation. The clause gore dzrodécar 
To yevos Mapdoyaiov (which I have enclosed in parentheses) seems to be a 
subsequent addition in 6, which we need not insert in the Heb. text. O, 
however, prefixes IAN DVD "S772 MA MN TAND to Svan bem 
wn. Woy mw or dy. 

In the same way, the fourteenth day, given in 6’, may be a subse- 
quent correction for the thirteenth day (so 6"; see above). In 8,12; 9,1 
6’ has the thirteenth just as f#l. In the apocryphal additions 6 has the 
fourteenth day in 18, 6; but the thirteenth in 16, 20 (Pur. 15,11). Cf. 
also n. on 9, 17. 

(8) For 43257 we must point 45%32; see Numbers 57, 36; cf. ZA 
14, 347. = a i 

For 5724 “753 (@ wisn 77272, > —pa xe dpa) 6 has sim- 
ply Sceorappévov, but it would be a mistake to suppose that one of these 

33 


130 THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SEMITIC LANGUAGES  3,9-12 


participles in {#4 was due to scribal expansion. 6 repeatedly substitutes 
one verb for two or three verbs of f#l; cf. n. on v. 13. 

For py 552 mise ons cf. the comparatio decurtata (GK", 
§ 133, e). 

(9) The conjecture (AoF 3, 26) that pyar is a gloss, and that we 
should read Sspwd (as in 4, 7) instead of SipuR; is not good; 3m5" 
bipwd ced 725 pads mows is not Heb, What Wn hasan ae 
ead be:—Fo5 "aD nwy OTT ‘pw and". But the sug- 
gestion that ton in y. 11 is a gloss is correct; see below and cf. above, 
ad 2, 18. The interpretation (W 17) that H offers the King 10,000 
talents to make up the financial loss involved in the extermination of the 
people (loss of taxes) is unwarranted; cf. below, ad 7, 4. 

Heb. >pw to pay, properly to w eigh, may be a bagel loanword; cf. 
KAT®, 649. The stem is a Saphel of oD; cf.n.on “5d (1, 22). The 
initial 1 is therefore a wW; (SFG 20,3; ZDMG 34, 861; “BAL 100; con- 
trast AG?, §63)= », (wv. For the 2 in “+2 and the & in Ate Cf 
one =) 5G = Assyr. passtiru=Sum. banSur (BA 1, 161) and 302}, 
yp l= = Assyr. ASSfir; pasa =IsStar, &c; see my paper on the name 
Istar in JAOS 28, 118, below. 

fA FNd2 “wy (cf. 9, 3) means here officials, especially revenue 
officers (cf. the remarks on Juc3!, ZDMG 61, 275). Alsoin 1 K 11, 
28; 2 K 12, 12 (contrast Kings 240, 20) as well as in Neh. 13, 10; Ezr. 3, 
9 & FDNd0 Fwy means business man (cf. y 107, 23) especially finan- 
cier, tax-gatherer, collector, &. Cf.also1S 8,16; Dan. 8, 27; 1 Chr. 
29, 6. 

(10) For oot “A T has (WT NPI, S Lejos. Leopsso. 
The addition OV A ANT RTA j2, which is omitted in 
6*", seems to be a scribal expansion; see n. on y. 1. 

(11) In “55 BST FD PN] TODM the two words Fos and OF 
should exchange places (cf. n. on 1,6) and $02 should be relegated 
to the margin (Pwr. 6, 33) as the question of a reader who was anxious 
to know what became of the enormous amount of money (10,000 talents, 
z.e. about $18,000,000). Cf. for this gloss Kings 137, 35; Isaiah 19, B; 
81,18; Heel. 20, x; 21, €; 25, xx; BL 3, y. The King takes it for granted 
that H will pay the money into the royal treasury; he therefore deems 
it unnecessary to refer to it, saying simply: ie yn DP; . Lime 
extremely unlikely that an Oriental monarch should be so generous as to 
turn over eighteen million dollars to his prime minister; cf. n. on 2, 18. 

(12) For the Pers. loanword D°3597DMN, satraps (G orparnyot, 5 
Tawss, © pd>o oN = otpatnAdrys) see 0.0n WZAVDAN (1, 1) also n. 
on DNLTN (8, 10). 

34 


3,13 CriticaL Notes on ESTHER 131 


Heb. Mins is a Babyl. loanword. The singular } mine must be 
pronounced péxxah (GK”, § 27, q) not péxah (AOG 25). The doub- 
a of the [, however, is secondary, just as in D°GN, brothers ; THR 

ain TS, after, &c. In Assyr. paxatu, pixatu (HW 519°) ‘the 
ee is not doubled. 

fA OY “iw refers to the native chiefs; 3 [Sases fo beespiet) 6 Ur Malate al 
N79) ND. 

(13) Heb. Os, S$ Gas," T yNUAM, 6 ABdadépor) means 
originally runners, then especially jfoot-soldiers; see Kings 232, 34. 
Here it is used for couriers (ayyapou, cf. Her. 8, 98) who were (according 
to 8,10) mounted. G" cis yeipas tpexovTwv imméwv (Var. izrwv) is a doublet; 
cf. 6 Asap Nicay in 3, 7 and n. on 1,17. In Assyrian, rakbu (= 254) 
is used for envoy, and allaku xantu for cowrier (HW 619". 281”). The 
stem xamatu, to burn is identical with the stem xamatu, to hasten ; 
the original meaning is to flash; cf. ZDMG 61, 297, n. 115 and modern 
Arab. y= ; ee ; also Nah. 41 (puridu, courier = O27): 


fA Fad) pd Tawi (so, too, 7, 4; 8, 11) is not pleonastie; 
sw5, to exterminate is the general term (cf. v. 6 and 4, 18). This 
extermination could be effected either by a general massacre (3795) or 
by forcing the surviving Jews to flee from the country like wild beasts; 
ef. Arab. Ouf = YX>95 and my remarks on the last line of y 1 in AJSL 
19, 141, below. See also n.on F3N5 (9, 6) and C 121, below. At the 
time of the Syrian persecutions under Antiochus Epiphanes and his suc- 
cessors the orthodox Jews were either massacred (1 M 1, 57. 63; 2, 38; 
ef. Pur. 35, 6 and n. on p7axd , 4, 7) or forced to flee (1 M 2, 28. 29. 43; 


ef. Pur. 34, 39). G has simply adaviow for Jano) SD TaD just 


as mpmnw: Ndi yap Nd "oT (v. 2) is rendered 6 8 Mapdoxaios od 
mpocextver ait, or as we find for F752" “7572 (v. 8) simply duecrappevov. 
For the accumulation of synonyms, which is by no means indicative of 
a late date, cf. ZDMG 61, 295, n. 97. 

Heb. 55w, to plunder (cf. 8,11) is a Babyl. loanword. The noun 
55u (3 comet ; cf. AJSL 3, 107) means here household effects, personal 
property, just as Ger. Plunder means household effects, trumpery, 
baggage, while the verb pliindern means to pillage. In certain parts of 
the United States the term plunder does not mean pillage, spoil, booty, 
but household or personal effects, baggage, luggage. Ger. pliindern is 
a privative denominative like our to skin && (AJSL 22, 251; Nah. 32). 
Assyr. 8alalu (HW 662°) means to carry off; so 551 denotes mov- 
ables; French meubles; cf. the Ger. privative denominative vermébeln. 
See also Pur. 34, 18. 

*% has Was also for "OO in 6, 14. 

30 


132 Tur AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SEMITIC LANGUAGES 3,14—4,1 


The conjecture (AoF 3, 26) that this verse is evidently a subsequent 
(post-Seleucidan) addition is gratuitous. 

(14) The clause 42°72) 7370 553 4 wns is in apposition 
to amn5q. We may supply the relative pronoun "3pN before na, 
but not "7" (S). Nor is Wd right in stating that wnt) introduces 
the contents of the edict. S renders freely: ons2] Lods» ase 
Sasey ome as Ls pes Had NEC 

fA “55 is not the first word of the proclamation (B) but verbal 
predicate to 17:2M5 (Keil). #4 53, however, does not mean open, 
unsealed, but to be revealed; cf. 4, 8: 2 “WN AIT SMD yawns 
ywiw..- The objection that H’s edict for the extermination of the Jews 
would have been useless, if published eleven months in advance, since 
the Jews would have had ample time to emigrate, is not valid (cf. C 124). 
If a general massacre of the Jews in a Russian city were announced a 
year in advance, the Jews could not all get away; and even if they were 
able to take most of their personal property, they could not dispose of 
their real estate. Cf. Pwr. 48, 7. 22. 27. 39. 43. 

The idea (AoF 8, 26) that the last clause of this verse, D°9M nd 
cree n>. is a subsequent addition, and that the first part of y. 14 is 
the immediate sequel of v. 12, is impossible. 

(15) The conception (AoF 3, 26) that the couriers are sent out twice, 
is erroneous; vv. 12-14 describe the drafting of the edict, and y. 15 
relates the execution of the order. 

KM vow wn E WIT NMP, > see |21s,%) means here the 
City of Susa in distinction from the Acropolis ("""27). The King and 
H feasted in the Acropolis; cf. n.on 1,2. The people in the Acropolis 
were not perplexed, but the people in the City were in a quandary. 3 et 
cunctis Judeis, qui in urbe erant, flentibus seems to have regarded the 
initial 5 of FD4zDp as a dittogram of the final 5 o yw ; cf. C 128: 


- 

(1) SA Yq" is pluperfect; see n.on FMD (1,9). M had learned 
of the edict as soon as it was decided upon. Just as he managed to 
obtain information concerning E (2, 11) so his friends at the Court 
apprised him of H’s scheme. 

Heb. pw is a Babyl. loanword; cf. KAT’, 650. It denotes a coarse 
loin-cloth; see Kings 163, n.*; 210, 7, and cf. Glaser in OLZ 9, 320. 
Instead of “DN pw 2>4 GY has kat évedUcato odKKov Kal KaTeracaTo 
omoddv, $ saho> \astdjo jaw caso, © 59 pw NwWIAD WN} 
roe by Noop "wi mM" T., 3 indutus est sacco, spargens cine- 
rem capiti; but we should not be justified in inserting P77") (Job 2, 12) 

36 


4,3 CriticaL Notes on ESTHER 133 


or 9X" (cf. v. 3). If we see e.g. that S$ renders 58 wnd 7 as) 
pu winb2 aby SF “5. at the end of the following verse, jon Jude 
bedSses 52S [20 bee wo) 23}. bec), we cannot attach much 
importance to the insertion of \“u222}. The verb “325, to put on is 
not used only of dresses; =N p25 is just as possibleas “wn D2 
man (Job 7, 5) or rao) niga ‘vod: (v 35, 26). Cf.also 2S 13,19: 
swe Sp 7D aS “Van mpni. For the symbolical meaning of the rend- 
ing of eements and the sprinkling of ashes &e see Pur. 25. 

fA =52 SN itd means to come to the gate, i.e. to approach the 
gate; to enter the gate would be "3152 wins, see AJSL 21, 134, below; 
3 aulam regis intrare is inaccurate. 

(3) The clause mand 9 337 “EN pw (AV, many lay in sackcloth 
and ashes) means Most of them had a sack-cloth (or coarse loin-cloth) 
and overspread (Ger. aufgeschmierte) ashes (i.e. spread over the body). 
Heb. pd would mean Many had (€ FIN map pw will 
PWIO Wp IE My pwna, & Pod Xaswa Nawpi N'po') but 
— means Most of them had; ae woAAoi and of zoAAod (GK, § 133, g). 
C’s rendering (even) the great ones is impossible. The 9355 awe ban 
‘WOD1* "521 were universal among the Jews, and most of them even 
put on the loin-cloth and sprinkled ashes on their head. Instead of 
7 we must point ee (as participial attribute to "5) = 5x72 
(GK", $53, s). For. fA x" instead of 5x7 ef. conclusion of n. on 
1,5. The 5 in pat is not the * 5 discussed GK, § 121, f (cf. n. on 
5, 12) but the 5 explained i in WdG 2, 149, D; nor is y= verbal predi- 
cate to both pu and "5, but attribute to "SN. B and Wd (follow- 
ing 3 sacco et cinere multis pro strato utentibus) think that they spread 
a garment of hair-cloth, sprinkled with ashes, on the ground and sat 
down on this garment; so too, S: Sack und Asche hatte die Menge (der 
Juden) untergebreitet; cf. GY caxxov cal oroddv éotpwoav éavtois. But 
this spreading of the sack-cloth on the ground would be at variance with 
the disregard for personal comfort, which is characteristic of mourning. 
The sack-cloth was not spread on the ground, but put on as a loin-cloth, 
and the ashes were not sprinkled on the loin-cloth, but over the body. 
G has for 8=™ “DN po 325 in v. 1: xai mepieBaXeTo oaKKov Kal 
orodwleis e&prAOev; cf. also GY" 14, 2: ozodod Kai xompidv (G" Kompov) exAn- 
cev THY Kedadnv aitys. The mourners originally tore off their garments 
and put on a loin-cloth. This explains why persons in mourning were 
not allowed to approach the King’s Gate. Afterwards they simply tore 


* Heb. 135) = silent weeping, “DOD = loud wailing; “DD is more demonstrative 
than "35 or Di or Soe: and "DN pu more demonstrative than "DD. 


37 


134 THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SEMITIC LANGUAGES 4,47 


their garments at the breast for a hand’s breadth and put on the loin- 
cloth under their ordinary garments (Kings 210, 7). 

(4) The K°thiv mason (Qeré maNian) is based on the analogy of 
the verbs 775 and x; cf. mr laM TINLsN, and miao which is 
based on the analogy of the verbs 4 ‘ e 
Istar in JAOS 28, 113). 

fl wwe aban Srornn (AV then was the queen exceedingly 
grieved) means the Queen was very much shocked. The use of 5552 
instead of “MCN is intentional, just as the omission of 75527 in 1,19 
is designed. M was stripped of all clothing save the coarse loin-cloth.* 
This was distasteful to the Queen (cf. 2 S 6, 20). She therefore tried to 
induce M to put on the garments she sent him. 6’ has érapay6y for 
Sriminn; in 7, 6 Ge erapax6n is used for MYII, and at the end of c. 3 
G’ has érapdooero for FDIDI. 3 renders consternata est. The stem 
Sninnn is derived from 594, just as pepnwon (for pwpwnn) is 
derived from Pi; see Nah. 41. 

The verb dap (S \ao flo, © Sap wud) is Aramaic; cf. the 
glosses in 9, 23.27 and n. on 95x85 (7,4). Assyr. qablu, midst (BL 97) 
= Arab. qalb, heart (AJSL 1, 227); cf. last n. on 7, 9. 

(5) For Wn (S 4a with 7 misread )) has ’Aypaaios. This is a 
transposition of ’A6axaios, the p emphasizing the guttural (velar) character 
of the i ; see BA 1, 257, 1.18. For 6 ’AxpaGatos (v. 9) cf. n. on 6 Movyatos 
(1, 14) and for the transposition cf. the remarks on Ayafas = TaBovbas = 
Bovyafay in nn. on 1,10, *“Axpafatos may be influenced by Greek names 
like "Ayarns, “Axpadys, &e. 

fA AQT is causative (J quem rex ministrum ei dederat, AV whom 
he had appointed to attend { wpon her) just as 5p in 2, 14; it could 


also be intransitive (§ aateyo soho»). Of. AJSL 22, 204, 1.5; Psalms 
83, 50. 

For 5p read 5x, as in v.10($ 20S). Cf. "795 dy (v. 7) for "795 bx 
and nn. on 1,17. The phrase 5y >, which means to enjoin upon, is 
correct in vy. 8. 17 and in 2,10; 58 >"~ means to order to, to order to 
go to. This is a constructio pregnans (GK™, § 119, ee) like 5y.... Dp 
wna 35 (7, 7). 

(7) The translation (AoF 3, 26) M told him everything, and the 
amount of money which H had commanded to pay to the Jews{ in 
order to annihilate them; he gave him also the tenor of the edict which 
he had issued in Susa in order to exterminate them, is impossible. 


* Cf. the fifth footnote to nn. on 8, 7. + Cf. n. on WOM (5, 1). 


tGerman(?) welchen H befohlen hatte zu bezahlen den Juden sie zu vernichten. Wn 
means, I suppose, welchen H den Juden zu bezahlen befohlen hatte, i. e. which H had com- 
manded the Jews to pay. 


5 (see n. in the paper on the name 


38 


4, 8-11 CriticAL Notes on ESTHER 135 


Heb. O™37°2 sspwo cannot mean to pay to the Jews;* 3 is the 3 
pretit ia Kings 224, 5) 3 pro Judeorum nece. In his nn. S explains 
the 3 as 2 pretii (so, too, Wd; cf. n. on 7, 4) stating that Ow T7"2 
means properly als Preis ftir die Juden, but in his translation he renders 
in Betreff der Juden. There are several discrepancies between the 
translation and the nn. in S’s commentary, which would, perhaps, have 
been eliminated, if S had been able to revise his work; cf. nn. on 1, 20; 
5, 1.8; 6,6; 7,8; 8, 11; 9, 2. 16. 26; also S’s transliteration Mordehai 
(as though it were "7W777g) and Pur. 29, 26. 

For the K°thiy oT. the Q°ré substitutes the contracted form 
Dra; of. 8, 1. 7. 13; 9, 15. 18. 

SH ‘o72N> means here to ruin them; this includes killing and pro- 
scription, banishment, expulsion with confiscation of property (cf. n. on 
3, 13). 

(8) The Athnah in ap 737955 is correct; 45 33595 must not be 
connected with the following rnp mg. (against B). The inf. 

75775" is coordinated to the sea may +5: Hatach is to show E 
the document and to tell her about it, explain it to her (AV to show it 
unto E and declare it unto her). Hatach told the Queen the substance 
of the edict, although he presented a copy of the decree. Even if E 
could read the copy, she was probably satisfied with the verbal report. 
An official who submits a letter to his superior will often give the sub- 
stance of it, so that the letter is not read, although it is produced. - The 
clause 7757 mas) represents the final request: M requests Hatach 
to urge E, in view of all the evidence submitted, to go to the King. 
The eunuch Hatach may have been a Jew; cf. C 145 and the second 
footnote to n. on 2, 10. 

(11) For the etymology of A772"35 cf. AJSL 22, 258, below. 

For 197 Am, there is but one decree for him, cf. Dan. 2,9: RIM 
VSN NTT. The suffix in {M7 represents the genitivus objectivus (so 
S): his decree=the decree against him; contrast n. on 1, 17. The 
loanword (J is feminine; cf. 3, 8.15 (Aw ONT, TM m4) and 
SG?, p. 57, below. 

The 5 in nvam> (© maa> I NWT NT NIM) may be the 
Lamed inscriptionis, as in Is. 8, 1 (GK, § 119, u). This is a variety of 
the emphatic 5 (cf. n. on N55 , 7,8) just as Assyr. ma before the 
oratio directa is a variety of the emphatic ma (see Proverbs 68,7). GY’ 
renders n77a7> 4N7 NM, freely: otk éorw aire cwrnpia, I absque ulla 
cunctatione statim interficiatur ; LB der soll stracks Gebot sterben. 

Baer reads Wa", with Raphéh; but wa w= Assyr. Sabbitu, 
so the r is merely resolution of the doubling (VG, § 90) as in Assyr. 

*Norcan 32573 .-... Sip “ON mean he commanded the Jews to pay. 


136 THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SEMITIC LANGUAGES 4,12-14 


kursa (ef, Aram. °O7D, Arab. gwyS) =kussa (Heb. R95) throne 
(Sumer. guza) or pw = pwns (Assyr. DimaSqu). Consequently 
the 3 should have a Dagesh lene; the Raphéh may be disregarded, just 
as in 45 for m5 (Ruth 2,14). For Masoretic endorsements of manifest 
textual errors see Kings 288, 19; 298,12. Cf. also y7S8 (8, 6) instead 
of 7728. 

AV these thirty days=py> o> mT (note Gen. 31, 38: AV this 
twenty years=IW Ow M1) isa Hebraism. It means lit. This is 
thirty days, i.e. for the past thirty days; cf. French il y a and GB", 
174, b; BDB 261”, i. 

(12) For 4757 read 457 (scil. Hatach) following Buhl in Kittel’s 
Biblia Hebraica, or 45>) (GK, § 121, a). 

(13) For this third message of M to his foster-daughter in the royal 
harem cf. Otanes’ third message to his daughter Phzedymia (Herod. 3, 
69: rpitny d€ ayyeAny éoréurea). See Pur. 8, 34; cf. also C 64. 145. 149 
and n. on 2, 12. 

Sl an ma is haplography for an m2 (see nn. on I, 9). 
It cannot be appositive to "47M, als dem Kénighause angehorig (S). 

For ya; alone of, singled out in OMT «O20 cf. Ruth 1, 5: 
PPT" “8 TNT ANN. 

(14) #1 "5 does not mean vielmehr (S) but for; "5 must be con- 
nected, not with the following conditional (or concessive) clause intro- 
duced by ON, but with }JaNn Tos mai MN. The author might 
have said: — "28 73) FN (ONT Mya "NN wn ON) "3S 

“MN Dipad ow Tost Tx A WANN; but the received 
text is no doubt original. 

For mn read m3 also pV md (Gen. 3, 8) must be pointed 
orn mand 5 see Nah. 33, ad 17°. 

The scriptio plena 729" may be due to dittography of the 4; see 
Nah. 19 (ad v. 6) and the remarks on WVWWMN for DAWN (1, 1). 
fA Toy" means wird erstehen (Keil, K) not wird bestehen (B). The 
meaning is not, the deliverance is established and certain, but it will 
arise, turn up. © TMS ANN Y2 NTT Dp? xan xh, 
S Deel bop ee bos lon [Lssace James , GY adrXofev Bonbaa kai 
oxérn éotat Tots Iovdatos, GY aAX’ 6 Oeds Extra adtois Bonds Kai swrnpia, I 
per aliam occasionem liberabuntur Judei. 

fA “TN Dp does not refer to help from abroad (1 M 8, 17; 12, 1) 
as S supposes. Even in the 20 century it is hardly possible for the 
Jews in Russia to get any help from abroad, e. g. the United States or 
England. From another place or from some other quarter is a veiled 
allusion to God. The avoidance of the name of God is certainly not 

40 


4,14 CriticAL Notes on HStHER 137 


accidental (N) but intentional (Wd). According to N (EB 1403) it is 
due to the coarse and worldly spirit of the author; but the avoidance of 
the name of God is no evidence of coarseness or worldliness: a man may 
be absolutely irreligious, yet use the name of God in an oath &c. The 
phrase "FN Dip sigp7 5x54 is a reverential allusion to interven- 
tion on the part of the Supreme Being, just as some one may say in 
Washington, The Secretary of State is in favor of it, but Somebody Else 
may object, alluding to the President.* In post-Biblical Hebrew, Dipan 
is used of God (cf. JBL 24,17) and D"poN is substituted for 6°} Ly 
just as we prefer to say By Jove, or sais me, or Good gracious, Good by, 
&c in order to avoid the name of God. Ger. achherrje is a corruption of 
Ach Herr Jesus, just as Hullee gee is a corruption of Holy Jesus. 

fl MID MYST MNNTD MPD ON PT a means, Who knows 
whether thou hast not attained royalty for a time like this, i. e. Perhaps 
thou hast been made Queen just for such a contingency; cf. Gen. 45,7 
50, 20. GY kat ris ofdey «i cis TOV Katpov TOUTOV €BaciAevoas; SO, too, G'; J et 
quis novit utrum idcirco ad regnum veneris, ut in tali tempore para- 
reris? % |Zanssa\s wdopodjo wdszo2| [25] Undpto | Sp altco, 


TMX NI NITID WNNT NNW PR TPT SST NT NA 
amis yom" N°. Instead rr the rhetorical question Who 


knows? Ethiopic uses a negative expression for perhaps, viz. AISA. : 
énda‘i, lit. not my knowing, haud scio, P57 *D3I9N; see Dillmann’s 
grammar (1899) p. 343; English translation by J. A. Crichton (London, 
1907) p. 887. For similarly clipped forms cf. my remarks on the causa- 
tive prefix { in nn. on 3, 9 and in the paper on the name Jstar (JAOS 28, 
114) also Nah. 24, below: VG § 44, d; and the remarks on “77g (5,8). 


SA ON IW MY means perhaps, just as Lat. haud scio an; contrast 
haud scio an non=perhaps not. As soon as the negative is inserted 
(after art) in AV Who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom 
for such a time as this, the meaning is clear. LB, correctly, Wer weiss, 
ob du nicht um dieser Zeit willen zum Koénigreich gekommen bist; C 
und wer weiss, ob du nicht (grade) fiir diese Zeit zum Kénigreich 
gelangt bist. Similarly AV renders Jon. 3,9: Who can tell if God will 
turn and repent instead of Who can tell whether God will not turn and 
repent. If we substitute but for ON, we need not insert the negative. 


*In the German Reichstag Gen. Von Deimling, the commander of the colonial 
troops in German Southwestern Africa, said on May 26, 1906: Dariiber haben Sie hier nicht 
zu bestimmen, sondern ein Anderer (i. e. the Emperor). In his novel Tristram of Blent 
(vol. 1, p. 255 of the Tauchnitz edition) Anthony Hope says: And if by a miracle he 
[the prime minister] said yes, for all I know somebody else might say no. This dark refer- 
ence to the Highest Quarters caused Southend to nod thoughtfully.— Ibid. p. 270 we find: 
There was now not only the very grave question whether Robert Disney [the prime minister] 
—to say nothing of Somebody Else — would entertain the idea; and on p. 117 of vol. 2: The 
last words had, presumably, reference to the same quarter that Cee Evenswood had once 
described by the words ‘“‘Somebody Else.” 


41 


138 THe AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SEMITIC LANGUAGES 4.16 


If the negative were inserted in Hebrew, 3) md > DN, the 
phrase would mean: Perhaps thou hast not been made Queen just for 
a contingency like the present. This statement would be possible only 
if E had not become Queen. If the King had given orders to kill the 
Queen, the father of one of the maidens who were not made Queen, 
might have said to his daughter: — miso mean xd ox pT 
NNI5 ny. The negative in our Who knows whether thou hast not 
been made Queen just for such an emergency is on a par with our not in 
phrases like Won’t you come? which is quite different from Will you 
(really) not come? The particles xd5>4 or YI (B) could not be used 
in this connection. B’s interpretation (which has been adopted by 

Reuss) Who knows (what may happen) when thou hast come to the 
royal throne at that time or when thou hast appeared before the King’s 
majesty at that time (Ger. Und wer weiss wenn du um diese Zeit hinge- 
kommen sein wirst zum kéniglichen Thron) is impossible. This would 
be: NO MPA JIT ON FNIAD TT a ltr ya. The words 
mr 772 could not be omitted, and R"4M myn would be appropriate 
only if a time had been specified; e. g. if E had been urged to go to the 
King at a certain time, then some friend, wishing to dissuade her, might 
say, If I were you, I would not go; who knows what will happen when 
thou goest to the King at that time. It is true that this phrase might 
also anticipate a favorable outcome; Naomi might have added to her 
instructions in Ruth 3,3: npa wees ON WNIS> rot pia) Save 
RT, but without 77> 774 the statement would be meaningless. 

(16) SH “by means for me (3 pro me; see conclusion of n. on 753) 
of. stay dy (v. 8) and qwE dy (7, 7) also owe) dy (8, 11). 

For py) 715" see Kings 104, 32. 

In DIZN "NAVI "DN OZ the conjunction ) means with; in Arabic, 
> in such cases is construed with the accusative (WdG 2, 325, D; JAOS 
22, 108, n.5). Of. Vat) F727 wis? (5, 4). 

fil 15, thus means, not for the same period, i. e. for three days (B) 
but in the same (strict) manner, viz. day and night. Fasting was 
observed, as a rule, from sunrise to sunset, food and drink being taken 
each day after sundown, just as in the Mohammedan fast of Ramadan 
(yL4-)). 

For 723); and so (so, correctly, AV; but GY xai rore, J et tunc, S 
crear, © i: "nai; cf. Syr. = = <iho) see n. on 2,13 (the 3 is not 
the 3 essentic, as B and Wd suppose; cf. n. on 7,3). This statement 
expresses E’s confidence in God’s help. After having fasted for three 
days, both day and night, she could not be very attractive to the King, 
unless God wrought a miracle as in the case of Daniel and his friends 
(Dan. 1, 15). The fasting in the present case is not a sign of mourning, 

42 


a eee) CriTicaAL Notes on ESTHER 139 


but humiliation before Juvu in order to secure His help; cf. 2S 12, 22; 
1 K 21, 27; Jon. 3, 5. Post-Biblical PYM, hwmbling, means fast; 
ef. "wD TDP and nn. on the translation of Leviticus (SBOT) p. 82, 
1. 40. 3 has for "Sy 32% (so, too, $) orate pro me, and © adds to 
"No9 Taw: — Nady “VA DIP Dx). 

It is not necessary to suppose that the verb 428 in the phrase 
"ATIN "MIDN WRdDd (cf. Gen. 43, 14 and GK”, § 106, n) means to be 
banished (see n. on OTAN, 3,13). E risks her life, just as Sheherazade 
and the Herodotean prototype of both, ®aduucn (Pur. 8, 38). 3 tradens- 
que me morti et periculo. 

(17) # “S974 does not mean he transgressed the Law by ordering a 
fast for the 13 and 14™ of Nisan (so J. D. Michaelis) but he went 
over (so C 162) to the City to call the Jews of Susa together and to urge 
them to fast for three days in order to crave Juvu’s blessing on E and 
her hazardous undertaking in behalf of her brethren. The City, in 
which M’s brethren lived, was separated from the Acropolis (cf. n. on 
1, 2) by the Choaspes, Assyr. Uknti (JHUC, No. 114, p. 111°; cf. JAOS 
18, 145, n. 1). 

a) 

(1) It is perhaps not necessary to insert (with B, R, Wd) w425 before 
mtd (AV, put on her royal apparel) as in 6,8; 8,15. GY repueBdAero 
Tv dogav airys, but G" 7. 74. iuarua THs d0€ys, J induta est regalibus vesti- 
mentis, 3 |2oass tecas Aaah, Tf amo owind moods. The 
abstract M5572 may mean regalia. Milton uses royalty for emblems 
of royalty (Assyr. simat Sarrtiti). LB zog sich kéniglich an; so, too, 
C 163. S translates: da zog E das Kénigs‘gewand’ an; but in his 
nn. he states that m5579 wd is abridged for mibdya wiad wd; 
cf. nn. on v. 8 and 4, 7. 

SH OPN) does not mean she stepped in, entered (S) or she stood 
(so AV =35 stetit) but she waited; cf. 6,5; 7,7 and our stay = Lat. stare, 
Arab. ei (Kings 174, 27; cf. n.on "7774, 4,5). To stay means to 
come to a stand, stop, wait, remain. Shakespeare says: a servant 
that stays upon me; ef. 455 Iwaym (4,5) also Way in Eccl. 1, 4; 

Ex. 9,28 (Wayd jiech Ndi DMN MMWR) and Josh. 3, 16 (7ay" 
pvr; cf. Ger. stauen). 

$A Tea MNS M55 does not refer to E (as S states) but to the royal 
throne; span m2 m5 refers to E, but not ran mms m5. The 
throne was opposite the entrance, so that the King, seated on his UIOEE, 
could see who was waiting in the forecourt. 

(2) #1 M7729 is a circumstantial accusative; see Kings 136, 37; 298, 3; 
and below, vv. 9. 14: main; v. 13: aw; 6, 12: wen “erm bax. 
Cf. also Gen. 27, 6: TN WY ON WBTA TAX NS "naw 7; 

43 


140 THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SEMITIC LANGUAGES 5,38 


Is. 6,1: NOT OT NOD 59 Aw “TIN MX AW; Is. 6, 8: PAWN 
“ak “TN Dp Ms. 

The rendering of ¥3™m in J osculata est is unwarranted; S Zea], 
Tt nT. 

(3) The 77g in Wwpa 1725 is indefinite (GK*’, § 137, c) = what(ever) 
thy request, even (if it should be) half the kingdom, it shall be granted 
to thee. f¥ yWwpa TI means, not w22eS> unbis, but sluadSLeazs septo 
OT qa023 sass. The \ in yn") (GY kai ora cor) is the Waw apodosis , 
ef. n. on "755 (1,17). S supplies before this }:—(was du auch ver- 
langst). &* inserts in the present verse before xat roujow cor:— avayyedov 
por; and in v. 6, before ews quicous THs BaciAcias pov: —airnoau (cf. Mark 
6, 22: airnodv pe 0 éay GeAns, kal 860 cor). J etiam si dimidiam partem 
regni petieris, dabitur tibi; T "p55 mizon> NPD PIN DN DSN 
ap SPIUINN; S wad wooelZ uZaadtss Tes lxeps disregards the 
Waw apodosis; so, too, LB auch die Hdlfte des Kénigthums soll dir 
gegeben werden and AV it shall be even given thee to the half of the 
kingdom. : 

(4) fA 5 is preferable to T 7D) 5 contrast O75 (v. 8). For yam 
see n. on "F192" (4, 16). 

(5) The view (AoF 3, 36) that 5, 5-8 is merely an erroneous repetition 
of 7, 1 is gratuitous. 

(6) SH NON must be read Wow ; see last n. on 2, 15. 

(7) The } at the end of this verse corresponds to our—. There 
should be a dash, not a colon in K’s Textbibel; also the Athnah in 
“"nwp2 (v. 8) is equivalent to a dash. E starts to tell the King what 
her petition and request is. She begins: My petition and request — 
then she hesitates and decides to wait another day; she therefore invites 
the King to dine with her a second time when she will answer his ques- 
tion (so, correctly, B and Wd). The idea, that it would be better to 
wait another day, comes to her while she adds the humble qualification: 
if the King is kindly disposed toward me, and if it seem proper to the 
King to grant my petition and to accede to my request. 

(8) The last clause of v. 8, 757357 "275 TWIN “M721, shows that 
the explanation given above is the correct interpretation of vv. 7.8. If 
this last clause were omitted, we might interpret: My request is (= all I 
ask is simply) that the King dine with me again. S supplies in his 
translation after my request: — besteht darin, following 3 petitio mea et 
preces sunt istae (just as LB and AV supply is at the end of vy. 7) but in 
the nn. he gives the correct explanation; cf, n. on 4, 7. 

fa “M73 (S puso) is generally read moOhhar and supposed to be a 

44 


5, 9-11 CriticaL Notes on ESTHER ~ 141 


contraction of may) ,* the part. Pual of "FAN; but the initial 79 is 

remnant of 6°, day, just as the final 5 in pind. , the day ee 
yesterday, lit. the third day; cf. the remarks on 43$4.: in nn. on 4,14, 
The adverb "779 is shortened from "FAX OY, TF aay aap or rma ae 


for NUON or, yn I ans cf. Heb. TASS: oy (Prov. 31 25; a 30, 8). 


For the long @ cf. sho =s2i+5. The original meaning is posterior 
day, subsequent day, following day; contrast Fiirst’s dictionary 
(edited by R) 1,724. The form nam. (constr. na) must be a com- 


pound of nas + py; the fem. form NIN may ‘be a contraction of 


MIN ; cf. eal at last and Dusogo, at first (SG*, § 155) also n"D 
(=Tep paraiat, ZDMG 61, 194, n. 2) Gen. 49, 22; see Genesis 111, 35 
and GK”, § 80, g. 

(9) In yt WO dp wd" the two verbal forms are participles in the 


accusative (OD = ae not perfect forms. It is not necessary to say 
yt ed Dp ts Nii; see Kings 136, 38 and cf. n. on M729 (v. 2). 
G xat pa mpooxuvel pe, but S mi&% Suj22{ flo soo flo (in 4, 4 S has 
Dss}22] = Sniémnn). Nor does »t x5) mean er machte nicht Platz 
(S). 3 sed nec motum quidem de loco sessionis suae; LB noch sich 
vor thm bewegte; AV nor moved for him. In G* we find the correction: 
Kal ovk égaverry ovde ETpounoev am’ aiTod. 

(10) For wt (S ~#5], J Zares) 6" read Zwodpa (Vet. Lat. Zosarra) 
and G*: Swodpa, i.e. "WT; for the w cf. GY Bwpaly = Sake (1, 10). The 
form Zwodpa is probably influenced by the Greek name Rowtguay. Josephus 
reads Zapaca (with variants). Jensen conjectured that wy was a cor- 
ruption of WAZ = Qiri(ri)sa, the name of an Elamite goddess; cf. 
"mw (1, 9) and for ;=7: Hzekiel 114, 31 and 6 ABarala = NNIIN, 
G4 ZnBababa = NMID; see nn.on 1,10. For Babyl. 3= p see VG § 45, t 
(cf. ibid. b, 8). Jensen is now inclined to identify wry with the Babyl. 
goddess of wine, SireSu (see Genesis 81,34; Pur. 30, 34; 31, 25) just as 
he accepts Graetz’s (or rather J. D. Michaelis’) combination of 
p75 and Fy (see Pur. 50, 2; cf. n. on 3, 7) but his former explana- 
tion is preferable. According to @, way was 7"2y AMD NN M72 
N72; for “nM ="Mw cf. un. on A (1,6). Ch thinks (EB 5411) 
that way is a mutilated form of A 7%; cf. Ch’s explanation of "Mw 
(1, 9). 

(11) Hitzig’s conjecture ("35 234, die Fiille seines Ansehns (cf. 
xA> 3) =his great distinction (endorsed by B) is just as gratuitous (con- 
ra p-wap for pywr2, Nah. 2, 4) as his emendation nino SS 55 mre 


Way (1, 22). 3 filiorumque turbam, S woes) Lowe = Sl 3°2 3 34 (cf.9,10). 


*In BDB 563> play! is connected with Assyr. maxru, front; but front means past, 
and back = future; ef. SFG 15, n. 3. 


45 


142 THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SEMITIC LANGUAGES 5,12—6,1 


£8 55 before pan SSa3 we is impossible; all that wherewith 
he had advanced him (B: alles das womit ihn der Kénig gross gemacht) 
would require the insertion of 42 after 53.7. aN "2 wn AUN 
(see Kings 169, 33) 6, 8; also OAD IMD "WON O77" in 9, 22. Cases 
like 7p “we dD MN (4, 7; 6, 13) are quite different; cf. also 10, 2. 
S’s explanation, all with regard to which the King had advanced him 
(LB Alles wie ihn der Kénig so gross gemacht hatte; AV all the things 
wherein the King had promoted him) is not natural; cf. the remarks on 
the common mistranslation of the phrase [m>1 .... DN, Nah. 24, 
below, and n. on $35 5x57 “WN (7, 5). We must insert 55 before 
p-wit, following 3,1 and © my NOOA TM 7a 4 Te 
NDI7 “NTay1 “3=a7an DD by MEprI; 3 super omnes principes 
et servos suos. In 3 (tess wpas “Ss “ko pbetc} SS mteaslo) > 
appears before "7239, where it is less appropriate. 

(12) FA Fd Wp (S aS LI Gye; cf. SG, § 279, A) means in- 
vited by her (so Wd) not to her (LB, AV, S)=T => yan NIN; cf. 
mine> my mov. (Ruth 3, 10) and n. on 4, 3. 

(13) HA sw my 55a means as long as (LB, AV, S, K) not when- 
ever (B). 6" grav, but 3 quamdiu. fl Mp is construct state before the 
relative clause; cf. "WN Dp (4, 2; 8, 17) and Kings 285, 5. 

(14) SH yen tpy™ does not refer to H, but is impersonal; cf. the re- 
marks on 5*57] in nn. on 3,7 and n. on 6,9. G Kal qrouudoOn rd EvAov, 
3 et jussit excelsam parari crucem (LB und liess einen Baum zurichten, 
AV, caused the gallows to be made) are free renderings. It is not 
necessary to read the passive Dy"). 6" has in 8, 7: xai aidrov éxpeuaca 
émi Etdov for 137 59 ISN INN. 


q 


(1) For =dan mow 772 (© Noda7 NnIw 173, 8 adie 2578 
pad») GY has 6 de Kipuos (G" duvards) dwréeoryoe Tov trvov azo (omission of 
aro in G" is a secondary correction) rod BacwWews, but fA is no doubt 
more original. The omission of the name of God in the present passage 
is not designed, as Wd supposes; contrast n. on “TN D473 (4, 14). 
The personification of sleep (AV™ the King’s sleep fled) is quite natural. 
Den Konig floh der Schlaf (but not des Kénig’s Schlaf floh) is idiomatic 
German; cf. our phrase the color fled from her cheeks. In Gen. 31, 40 
LB has for "3979 "Nw Wr (3 fugiebatque somnus ab oculis meis, 
AV my sleep departed from mine eyes): und kam kein Schlaf in meine 
Augen; but in the present passage LB has the prosaic translation konnte 
der Konig nicht schlafen; so, too, AV; 3 noctem illam duxit rex 
insomnem, 

46 


6, 2-6 CriticaL Notes oN ESTHER 143 


6 reads kai cirev TO SidacxaAw airod cicdepew xtrA, but FM is more 
original. 6 7rd didacxdAw airod (cf, Pur. 7, 21) is just as secondary as the 
clause ru Geds Cv per’ airod at the end of vy. 13, or Kadds éAdAnoas in v. 10, 
or xaXeoate airov instead of NID" (S Nay, CE so7, 3 ingrediatur) at 
the end of v. 5. 

fA Ova AT (Cf Nort 75s) is a gloss (so, too, J) derived from 
2, 23 and 10,2; a n. on 8, 14 and the remarks on the gloss 95, Nah. 31. 

(2) Similarly pon ""21D'2 is a scribal expansion based on the received 
text of 2,21. Cf. the scribal expansions in 2, 3. 8. 

(3) In FO “p? Ww. 772 the two nouns are genitives depend- 
ing on 770 (5 quid, pro hac fide, honoris ac praemii M consecutus est). 
In the same way we find in the cuneiform account of the Deluge, 1. 174: 
a’i-ma ficgi napisti, what soul has escaped? cf. Arab. d=) ol 
diiu rdjulin, what man? (WdG 2, 220). Consequently we must read 
the ideograms at the end of ll. 82. 83, and 68 of the Flood tablet as geni- 
tives (not accusatives, HW 5562; nor nominatives, KB 6, 234) viz. mima 
isi ecénSi xuragi, i.e. I loaded her (the ship) with all the silver I 
had, I loaded her with all the gold I had; lit. (with) whatever I had I 
loaded her of gold; egénsi=agénsi from génu= yx. Heb. Wo 
(Gen. 45,17) is an Aramaism; cf. VND in Gen. 40 (see Nah. 25, 2). 
The passages in Gen. 40. 45 belong to the Ephraimitic Document. AG?*, 
303 translates ecénSi: I filled it; for the epenthesis of the é@ in ecénSi 
see my Assyr. H-vowel, p. 28; cf. AG*, 266. 94. In the same way we 
must read in ]. 68 of the Flood tablet: III sar eabe nas sussulSa 
igdbili Samni, i.e. three cdpo of (sesame-) oil (see Pur. 30, 39) carry 
her stevedores (lit. xavndopa, basket-bearers; cf. also Delitzsch, Mehr 
Licht, p. 39). 

(4) For ™zm> x2 read 375 Nx; the omission of the & is due 
to haplography; see Ezra 30, wee Kings 245, 35; ZDMG 61, 289, 40. 

(5) For ay (€ DNp, 5S xb) waiting (not standing, AV stand- 
eth) see n. on 5, 1. 

(6) For mY 375 a cf. n. on 1, 15. 

fil "270 "NT “Pp nerale 955 does not mean to confer more honor 
than on me (B mehr Bhre als mir; also Wd mehr als, AV more than to 
myself) but to confer honor except on me (@%* ei pH eve, J nullum 
alium nisi; LB wem anders denn mir, K ausser) S translates ausser 
mir, but in his nn. he says, "D4 “ANI means mehr als ich; ef. n. on 
4,7. §€ "37 “NT (E "7 WN, 3 ws yet») means beyond 
me, beside me, in addition to me. Nor does 773 "M2 mean more than 
in Ecclesiastes, as Wd states. In Eccl. 2,15 "M* means exceedingly, 
extremely, very; in 7, 11 it means exceeding; superior, better; in 7,16: 
exceeding, over, too; in 12,9: beyond, in addition to; in 12,12: besides 
(see Eccl.). ; 

47 


144 THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SEMITIC LANGUAGES  6,7-9 


(7) The-prefixed nominative absolute, at the end of this verse, "WX W'S 
ps yan an, does not reflect the verblendete Uberstiirzung of 
H, as Wd supposes; this construction is by no means abrupt (B) in 
Semitic; cf. GK”, § 143, c, footnote; WdG 2, 256; SG*, $317; Dillmann, 
Ethiop. gr.’, p. 446 (Eng. penne p- 505). 

(8) For the phrase 7577 12 wad Wwe (© m ma Ww) 4 
nmisb> Sy 1 wana xbdia, but S tas Usk») see n. on 59 
(5, 11). 

The last clause of this verse, WON"D MIDS AND iri WN), is a 
tertiary scribal expansion, derived (cf. n. on 8, 1 rae the secondary 
addition in 8,15 (45993 2NT Mwy) and “wr is a quaternary gloss. 
If we omit "DN, the suffix in WwR7D refers to the man who is to be 
honored (just as the Maccabean prototype of M, Jonathan, was honored 
by King Alexander Balas; see 1 M 10, 20. 61; Pur. 6, 35; cf. also third 
n. on 9, 16) but Twena mpd snD iF] TN can mean only on 
whose head (referring to the horse) a golden crown has been placed (so 
@, B, K, Wd, S). In © Fw NMIDSAT Nd DD am Th the 
suffix refers to the horse, the clause being coordinated to the preceding 
relative clause (RMIDSD Sy7 NOTS) NDSD My Ih -“T (NON. 
3, LB, and AV, however, do not refer the suffix to the horse: 3 et (homo 
debet) accipere regium diadema super caput suum, LB (den Mann.... 
soll man herbringen) dass man die kénigliche Krone auf sein Haupt 
setze, AV and the crown royal which is set upon his (scil. the King’s) 
head (this would require transposition of Wn =wN:— mio. 3n> 
TORI ri “wwN). fl "WN was inserted by a reader to whom the 
mito. “M5 on the head of M seemed too gross an exaggeration; ef. n. 
on the gloss 9°37 O73" (1, 4). If the final clause, mith. n> ws 
SND, were original, we should expect a reference to MYD5 AND in 
y. 10, after O90 AS wil AN Mp also in y. 11. It is possible 
that this gloss Seas mit>o2 7n> 1h stood originally after yp 22> 
ape van ‘joan “WN WNT oe Bhul oP is, of course, perfect 
Nif‘al, not impf. Qal (Maurer) for {M2 (see Judges 57, 42). Nor is it 
necessary to read 43%" or yma") (B) for WAN, especially if this gloss 
stood originally after 3} wa. In 6G" this clause is omitted; in 
G* a hand of the 7™ cent. has added in the margin (after the clause 

Sam or D7 Wwe OC) the correction kai Sob;jrw Suddyua Bacrdclas 
emt THv KEpadHnv avTod. 

(9) It is better to read, with O, for wz 27 4 (f qw.5" 5) and Wp) 
(f VicSp") the singular, wm, N75 in the same way wWasw7 
(© $A) should be pointed 7B 771; cf. the singular forms 
in v. 11 and & crokicdrw... . dvaBiBaoatw .... Knpvooérw (G* orodwa- 

48 


6, 10-13 CriticaAL Nores on ESTHER 145 


Twoav .... Knpvocerwoav are secondary). The incorrect plural forms 
swab &c are due to the preceding N%2N7M. The author no doubt 


believed that M did not merely superintend these functions, but that he 
performed them himself; cf. especially @ (260, 23). The statement at 
the end of ¢.5, V3 wy (cf. also yan mMmyoy “WN and ya "wwe in 
7, 9. 10) is somewhat different. 

Mes 2 Te NOT mNNs) is the forum of the city (Keil) 
not the place before the royal palace (Schultz, B, Wd). M was led on 
horseback through the City, not through the Acropolis; cf. last n.on e. 3. 
This forum may have been before the Acropolis which contained the 
royal palace, but not immediately before the royal palace. 

(10) For an =yw2 awrn © qui sedet ante fores palatii) see 
n. on 2, 19. 

The question raised by J. D. Michaelis, Had the King forgotten 
that all the Jews were doomed to destruction? is easily answered. The 
King might have honored M, even if all the Jews were to be massacred 
in a few months; a soldier (or sailor) may be decorated before he is put 
to death. But the King had probably decided to discard H and his 
sanguinary policy, as soon as he learned from the official records that M 
had saved his life, not H. The order to honor M, which he gives to H, 
is the first instalment of the punishment he intends to mete out to H 
(cf. n.on 7,7). Nor is it reasonable to ask, How did the King know 
that M was a Jew at the King’s Gate? This was probably stated in the 
records; if not, the attendants of the King could easily supply this infor- 
mation, just as Harbonah told the King that H had put up a stake for 
M. If the King asked, Who is this M? some one was no doubt present 
who could answer: He is a Jew (who has a stand) at the King’s Gate. 
But M may have been a familiar figure in Susa, so that he was known to 
the King. Cf. nn. on 2, 10.11; 3, 14.* 

(12) @ xara xepadgys for WRI MDM (© ws by poy = ee) 
ees} wsudto, J operto capite) is corrected in G to xataxexadAvppevos 
xehadyv. J’s conjecture, that the original text was not WR or WA, 
but 4, is destitute of all probability. 

(13) The Dagesh forte conjunctivum (GK?, § 20, k) S5"™772N7 is 
due to the enclitic character of 95; cf. the Dagesh in NDTIIPN &e 
for NAT IPN (Cant. 73, ad Cant. 8,2; Proverbs 67, 41) also Arab. 


ple Le dS & fi-kulli-ma ‘amin; bo Ju qalilamma; lv LY 
la’idmma, with great difficulty; Lanays Lal. le st Lols 


*T believe, of course, that E is entirely fictitious (see Pur. 21, 35). I merely try to 
defend the author of E against unwarranted criticisms of modern expositors (cf. e.g. nn. on 
2,10; 3,14; 7,7; 8,11.13; 9,3) just as my paper on Jonah’s Whale (cf. AJSL 28, 255) in 
the Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society, vol. 46, pp. 151-164 (1907) is not a 
vindication of the historical character of this Sadducean apo!ogue (about 100 B.c.) but a 
refutation of some unfounded objections raised by modern students of the Bible. 


49 


146 THe AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SEMITIC LANGUAGES 6,14—7,4 


fa’4amma ’n-nasu-ma* hasa4 Quraisan (WdG 2, 224, D; 276, B; 
343, B) &. The Dagesh orthophonicum (GK", §13,c) in 35“555n (ef. 
7,3: "ANS07ON) is different. For enclitic words in Heb. see Nah. 19; 
cf. VG 70, below; 94, 1.4. Contrast ZAT 3, 17-31. 

We need not suppose that H’s wife and his friends were familiar 
with the Scriptural passages concerning the Amalekites (Ex. 17, 16; 1S 
15, 2-7; Gen. 32, 26, &c). A person who lived in Susa might have seen 
with his own eyes that it was hard to accomplish anything against a 
Jew. Cf. the parallels between E and the Book of Nehemiah referred 
to at the end of nn. on 3, 1. 

(14) For the Waw apodosis in 3) "S°"0) WAd D727 Os cf. 
Job 1, 16.17.18 (83 FT "BIW MT Ty) and n.on "45 (1,17). 


. 

(2) For the gloss "77 D2 D5 (G" 17 devrepa yuepa, T NVI as 
NIM) see n. on 2, “4. 

(3) The preposition in "M5yxz2 (so, too, $T) and * wpaa is not 
the 3 essentice (see Numbers 57, 46) as Wd supposes; nor have we the 
5 essentice in i221 (4,16). £8 "nbxw2 means simply at my request 
(so AV) just as "272 (1,12) means at the command. This is a variety 
of the 3 instrumenti; 3 in this connection means through the force of ; 
cf. our in or by virtue of and by order &e. GY d06jrw 7 Wyn To airjpari 
pov; 3, freely, dona mihi animam pro qua rogo. 

(4) fH 354 (so, too, $) is Aramaic; cf. the last but one paragraph of 
na ford 8.) 

The clause pn pra rin 7S TR "5 means: Jt is not worth 
while to annoy the King on account of the enemy (so, too, Reuss).— 
The sense is correctly given by B (481, 13): der Feind ist nicht werth, 
dass ich seinetwegen den Kénig verletze oder betriibe, except that ver- 
letze or betriibe is not the proper word; it should be belédstige, behellige 
(see below). The literal translation would be: The enemy is not equiva- 
lent to the annoyance of the King. The 3 in pra is the 3 pretit: 
the enemy is no equivalent at the cost of the annoyance of the King; ef. 
Josh. 6, 26: 57°57 ST SSS TCT 17222, he shall lay the 
foundation wale at the cost of (AV in) his fir st- born, and at the cost 
of (AV in) his youngest son shall he set up the gates of it; i.e. The 
laying of the foundation shall cost him his first-born, the setting up of 


*MA in such cases must be connected with the preceding word, not with the following 
wile. Also in eos lo xtus Kas hdiiatun xabitatun ma hiia, avery 
dangerous snake and similar cases (WdG 2, 276, D) mA emphasizes the preceding word; 


the original meaning is: A snake—dangerous indeed she (or he). For the emphatic -ma 
in Assyrian see also Moses Schorr, Altbabyl. Rechtsurkunden (Vienna, 1907) p. 60. 


50 


ee CritTIicAL Notes oN ESTHER 147 


the gates shall cost him his youngest son (see the translation of this 
passage in the Polychrome Bible and cf. above, n. on 4,7). To annoy 
the King would be too high a price for the punishment of this enemy; 
the enemy is so utterly worthless that it would be a pity to give the King 
the slightest annoyance on his account. This statement implies the 
greatest respect and consideration for the King, and the utmost con- 
tempt and hatred for H. @ renders correctly: [DIT Syn n> ON 
xooat Not “oD N27 - The noun NIID means not only zeal, 
but also annoyance ; 141 means fo be provoked (cf. Ger. sich ereifern 
and Heb. riNIp Deut. 29,19; Ezek. 5,13; w 79, 5). 

The inaf Aeyopevov P72 does not mean damage, but annoyance. It 


corresponds to Arab. CP naziqa, to be easily angered and easily 


pacified (eel Nis Ss ueLb). The noun S155 nazaqa means 


a swell of sudden anger, a fit of disappointment or anger,a huff. Also 
Assyr. nazaqu (impf. izziq) means to disturb, trouble, harass. 
Barth’s combination of Py2 with yas naqqaga, to injure is wrong 
(cf. BA 3, 81). 

Dan. 6, 3, pi SEP > ND Nod, does not mean that the King 
should have no damage, but that the King should not be annoyed, 
troubled (with the administrative details of the government). © renders 
correctly: ézws 6 Baoireds xy EvoxARTaL, Jet rex non sustineret molestiam, 
LB und der Konig der Miihe tiberhoben ware. Behrmann’s render- 
ing, ne quis rex detrimenti Seater which is endorsed by Marti, is 


incorrect. S$ translates: was SEES  tessec, that they (the sa- 


traps) should not annoy the King; sal ("7"J5) means not only to do 
harm, but also to annoy, molest, irritate. 

In Ezr. 4, 13 Pre Sn D725 means: she (Jerusalem) will give the 
great King (cf. ZDMG 61, 289, 17; Nah. 30, below) trouble. Jerusalem 
cannot injure the great King, but the city may give him trouble. The 
clause pin O° 55> cha certainly does not mean: thou shalt 
endamage the revenue of the Kings (AV). 6* has here Kal TOUTO noe 
kaxorrout, J et usque ad reges haec noxa perveniet, S ji ee wa ws] 
~22, LB und ihr Vornehmen wird den Kénigen chaiton bringen ; int 
6 reads 1 Esdr. 4,13: xai zpés tovros BaowWedow dxAnoovow (cf. end of 
next paragraph). 

In Ezra 4, 15 ae “252 npr means, not hurtful (AV) but 
troublesome for the great King (6 péyas Bacrers) and the provinces (the 
satraps) and reeer= Diz? » at the end of v. 22: to the trouble (or 
annoyance) of the gr eat King (not to the hurt of the kings; so AV). 
GA DMSN in Ezra 4, 13 is certainly not a noun meaning revenue, but an 
adverb with the meaning eventually, finally, ultimately. G* has in Ezra 

51 


148 THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SEMITIC LANGUAGES 7,4 


4,15: xaxorowtca Baowrels al xwpas (so, too, 6“ 1 Esdr. 4,15; but Ezra 
4,15: Baorretor xai rodeow evoxdodoa; so, too, GY 1 Esdr. 2, 19) and at 
the end of v. 22: eis xaxorotnow Bacivedow; but G" has here cis 75 pH 
évoxrcioGar Baorreis, and in 1 Esdr. 4, 22: rod dyAciobar Baorreis, cf. GY 
1 Esdr. 2, 24 eis 76 Bacwreis évoxAjoa (see below). 

In the present passage 6Y renders Dar | pra mo oy TR = 
ov yap aéwos 6 duaBoXos THs aiARs TOD Bacréws. 7 restores the Heb. text on 
the basis of this corrupt translation as follows: 75 worn vs = 
span “x2. This may be archaic Hebrew, but even Saul eee? not 
have understood it without the help of the witch of En-dor (ef. n. on 
8,1). 6 aiAjs is also supposed to be a corruption of dépyis, but it is 
difficult to see how épyjs should have been corrupted to aids; cf. the 
remarks on the emendation xAnpov for iuay in un. on 3,7. C 197 thinks 
that atAjs represents a Grecized form of xdiw, injustice. The original 
reading may have been the abbreviated genitive of 6yAnou, trouble, 
annoyance (cf. 6xAov rapexey, to give trouble, &c). G" cai nbedov axayye- 
Aat iva pn AvTHTw Tov KUpLov pov gives the sense of the passage correctly, 
but freely. J nunc autem hostis noster est cujus crudelitas redundat in 
regem (i. e. Whose extreme cruelty will reflect on the King) is a mere 
guess. LB so wiirde der Feind dem Kénige doch nicht schaden is 
entirely wrong; nor is the rendering in K’s Textbibel any better: da 
aber der Konig geschddigt werden soll, so verdient der Widersacher 


nicht geschont zu werden. In S tess ious iecpos Ya m Ui the 


participle {Le seems to be a corruption, not of jaa, as B-R suggest, but 
of tc; Shas Pe = Spy in 3, 8, but lew in 5,13. T Rp md OTN 
Goes NPUAS. NAN PV" - All these various renderings pre- 
suppose no different text. © Np"3TIN seems to be a transposition of 
NPN 5 cf. conclusion of n. on DANN (8, 10). 

LE pan pra a) oy TS "5 is correct and means: for the 
enemy is not worthy of iibihe the King, i.e. the enemy is so con- 
temptible that it is not worth while to trouble the King on his account. 
All the emendations proposed are unnecessary. Oettli’s conjecture, 
yon 1 pias mw ; moxn TS s salvation (from this destiny) is not 
worth the damage of ‘the King (endorsed by Wd) is gratuitous and 
illogical. Nor can we accept O’s emendation ai) msn | for f mw a De 
(S: solches Bedrdngniss ware nicht hinreichend den K6énig zu betrii- 
ben). GB", s. v. Fw venders: Der Feind verdient nicht, dass der 
Konig verletzt wird; this should be dass der Kénig (seinetwegen) 
behelligt wird. 

The rendering of AV, although the enemy could not countervail the 
King’s damage, has recently been defended by W who says (W 18) that 

52 


7,5. 6 CriticaL Notes oN ESTHER 149 


the meaning of our passage is, H would not be able to reimburse the 
King for the damage (loss of taxes &c) he would suffer, if he permitted 
H to exterminate the Jews. W 24 calls attention to the fact that there 
were a great many Jewish publicans in Egypt, and that the King 
(Euergetes IT) would have suffered great loss, if the Jewish farmers of 
the revenues had been exterminated together with their coreligionists. 
But if the property of the Jews had been confiscated, the King would 
have received, not only all the taxes collected by the Jewish publicans 
(including their commission) but also their accumulated wealth; see also 
Pur. 28, 15. 

(5) #4 “aN 2° (so, too, [) is superfluous. 6G has simply etrev & 
6 Bacrred’s Tis obros KrA. 

SQV Tims) MT NWS means Who is it, and where is he2 
(cf. Ti 720 ao mi m7 at the end of 4,5). It is perfectly natural to 
say TT NW 0 in the first clause, and SM PFT °N in the second: in 
the first clause, 87 emphasizes the interrogative pronoun; in the 
second, Nj is the subject and quite appropriate according to GK", 
$136, b; FT "NS means here where? not which (Eccl. 11, 6). The 
demonstrative 77 emphasizes the interrogative " in the second clause 
(contrast GB", 24, below) just as N7 emphasizes "73 in the first clause 
(see Nah. 47, ad v. 12). For "~, where? cf. Is. 50, 1; 66, 1; Job 28, 
12720; 38, 19". Heb. is where? Ruth 2, 19 (= cS anu, Arab. 

3! aina; see Kings 203" 9) is merely "& with the interrogative particle 
Pr which we have also in mannu, who? (see n. on 1, 12). G6 omit 
SQ TTA, in G a corrector has added xat zotds éorwv ovros, S Wan ols 
ej of, CNT ANN PT OND) PI NW 73 

fa 925 4b AWN means whose heart has filled him (so AV™) but 
not welchen sein Herz erfiillt hat (Wd) nor der sein Herz damit erfiillt 
hat (S) nor dessen Herz ihn erfillt hat (B). Cf. the remarks on the 
common mistranslation of {W5w.... DN in nn.on 5,11. We must 
(with J) read sad nbn DN, he has filled his heart, i. e. who has 
the audacity, 6%" éroApnoe, J audeat, S nas ses522i>, T mamma d=an = 
spin5; cf. the Pharisaic gloss Eccl. 8,11 and Acts 5,3 where Peter 
says to Ananias: da ri éxAjpwoer 6 catavas THv Kapdiav cov, WetoacGai ce TO 
mvedpa TO ayov. A man must fill his heart (i.e. his mind) with barefaced 
audacity in order to undertake such a venture; he must gather up 
courage in his heart. 

(6) MM TIT 37 Va AW AWS wN does not mean The adversary 
and enemy is this cea H,so AV; LB der Feind und Widersacher 
ist dieser b6se Haman (similarly S and K). This would require the 
article, TT 397 Ya NIT AANA WN: cf. GRY, $126, k; 
§116,q. " avOpwros éxOpos Apav 6 zovypos otros, omitting 4 "; in GS 
a corrector has prefixed ériBovAos Kal to éyOpds. J hostis est inimicus 

53 


150 THe AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SEMITIC LANGUAGES yy 4 


noster pessimus iste est Aman, inserting noster ; 5 -a=_,ss=0 |,o iy 


Jase Wa on eon, © I wea ya N227 Sva) NApod Nags. 
B’s ein Drangsal ihentter und Feindscliger Mann ist dieser bose H da 
is very awkward. The first clause, D“N 7% W°N, represents the 
answer to the King’s question 7 NW", and the second clause, 
pyres yas 7/277, answers the question QI TAT7"N) (cf. n. on v. 5). The 
King asks, Who is it? and where is he? E replies: A man, an adver- 
sary and an enemy: H, the evil one, there! In L’s edition (but not in 
Swete) we find the correct punctuation: avOpwzos éxOpos* Apav 6 wovnpos 
ovros. C xx translates: Hin Widersacher und Feind ist es; H ist 
dieser Bésewicht, but C 198 explains: Jener Ubelthater und Feind ist 
H, dieser Boésewicht. 

E had invited H to the banquet in order to be able to give the King 


this answer. If she had accused H in his absence, the grand vizier 


would have had a better chance to defend himself (cf. C 168). Here he 
was confronted with the Queen, and he collapsed, not because he had 
tried to exterminate all the Jews, but because he knew the King was 
aware of the fact that M, not H, had saved the King’s life, and that H’s 
hatred against M and the Jews was chiefly due to his apprehension lest 
the trick to which he owed his sudden elevation might become known to 
the King (cf. n. on 3, 4). The situation was all the more desperate after 
the Queen had told the King that she was a Jewess and the foster- 
daughter of M who had saved the life of the King. 

SH APD means he was surprised, taken by surprise, overtaken (Ger. 
tiberrumpelt) not he was afraid (soAV). Arab. es» means to happen 
unexpectedly, to come or fall upon a person suddenly and unexpectedly 
(xa? 1d} xxeo). The noun Xi denotes a surprising event, a sudden 
attack. 6%" érapaxOn, which is used in 4, 2 for Sndmnni; 3 obstupuit. 
S “4)22}; so, too, in 4, 4 for bmbmanmi. © ono. 

(7) For the pregnant construction, ran | os ON Op pum, 
cf. the last paragraph of nn. on 4,4. W’s conception of this passage is 
entirely wrong. It is perfectly natural that the King leaves the room 
and goes to the garden. In the first place, he was very much incensed 
and did not like to give vent to his anger in the presence of the Queen; 
many a man who is enraged will get up and leave the room rather than 


speak out in the presence of his wife. Moreover, the King wanted to © 


have time to think the situation over. H was grand vizier and had 
no doubt a number of powerful adherents; so he could not be disposed 
of without due consideration. B states that the King went to the park 
um in der freien Luft die erste Hitze des Zorns verrauchen zu lassen 
und zu tiberlegen, welche Strafe tiber H zu verhdngen sei. The King’s 
suspicion had been aroused as soon as he learned from the official records 
that M, not H, had discovered the conspiracy (cf. n. on 6, 10). The 
54 


. 


R83 CriticAL Notes on ESTHER 151 


statement that the King left the room and went to the garden, is not 
a grober und geradezu unerklarlicher Compositionsfehler (W 18; con- 
trast C 181, below). In a dramatic performance (see Pur. 38, 31; 12, 1) 
the audience would wait in breathless expectation for the reappearance 
of the King. When the King returned, he knew, of course, that H had 
no idea of assaulting the Queen; his remark, Is he going to assault the 
Queen while I am at home? is a cruel jest (C 200 calls it tédtende Ironie). 
It showed how the King was disposed toward H (C 200 says: In diesen 
furchtbar ironischen Worten lag H’s Todesurtheil). 

For (a7 NA see nn. on 1, 5. 

For 7739, remained (not stood wo, AV; 3 surrexit; 3 seo) see n. 
on 5, 1. 

For {5x read 3°59; see n. on 1,17. 3 dese umedSs ad Don? 
JaSso —,* © NOS mba RXmwa Wy MEPNON ON. 

(8) The pointing 555 implies that H threw himself at the feet of E 
(cf. 8, 3) when the King returned. The translation had thrown himself 
(AV was fallen, S war niedergefallen, K war niedergesunken, 3 reperit 

_Aman super lectuluwm corruisse) would require the pointing 55>; for 
the pluperfect cf. n. on 1, 9. The participle is more dramatic. " Also 
3w is participle, not perfect. 

After Sta «by we may supply (but not insert) rasa pm 
or F759 pwd; ef. Psa pm (2 K 4, 27) and expdryoay airoi 
rovs rooas (Matt. 28, 9) also "2 ‘pw (w 2, 12) kiss the ground = Assyr. 
qaqqara ntssiqt (AJSL 19, 134; ZDMG 58, 630, n. 36). See e. g. 
KB 1, 28, 28; 32, 87: Sepé’a igbatti-ma arimsunifiti, they clasped 
my feet, and I pardoned them; KB 2,178, 19: unassiq Sepé’a rému 
arsisii-ma, he kissed my feet, and I granted him mercy. If EK was 
recumbent on a dining couch, H had to bow down WHIT bp, if he 
wanted to clasp, or kiss, the feet of the Queen. A man may kiss the hem 
of the garment of a lady to show his humble devotion to her; but her 
husband may misinterpret it. S’s rendering vor dem Diwan is inac- 
curate. If H had fallen down before the couch, the King could not 
have made his cruel jest. Heb. 5» cannot mean before; it might mean 
close to, hard by; cf. GB 534”, 3,¢. This b» is different from jnow by 
(cf. our phrase to sit over a meal) &e (Kings 184, 27). If a man sits 
very close to a lady in a crowded car, he sits almost wpon her. % has in 
8, 3 wor “Ss ASalo for 7559 DS Sm. For mM = lectulus 
convivalis (Talmud. 2072) see BL 68. 


*Syr. D5 is a transposed doublet (cf. Sad = Maw) of Wan= Sa = SND; see 
last n. on c. 73 of. AJSL 28, 245 ( re = Ey) and 247 (eS = pr) also Arab. De = 


heKS (wy sl Pe) JoSt pes Of. last n. on 4, 4, 
b) 


152 THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SEMITIC LANGUAGES 7,9 


For maa “ay MD>2m my wield osm see conclusion of first 
n. on v. 7; 95 corresponds to the Ger. etwa gar (so, correctly, S) ef. etiam 
(Cie. Tuse. 2, 7, 17) and Nn Job 40, 8; Gen. 18, 13. 23; Am. 2, 11. 

$A wIDD> is not inf. with the prefixed preposition 5, but impf. with 
prefixed emphatic 5; see Proverbs 52, 11; AJSL 22, 201, 1. 18; contrast 
GK", § 114,i, note 1; see also my paper on the scriptio plena of emphatic 
la- (5) in OLZ 10, 305, and the remarks on Hag. 1, 9 in nn. on 8, 7. 

W 18 remarks, the King does not say the Queen, which would be 
more correct and more impressive, he says: soll denn: dem Weibe in 
meinem Hause Gewalt angethan werden? It is true that 6" have ri 
yevaixa, but 4 has 7254 MN; so, too, T$3. On the other hand, 6° 
has 4 Baowuoca in 1,19 where the omission of this title in ffl is inten- 
tional. 

§& “277 refers, of course, to the cruel jest of the King (see con- 
clusion of first n. on vy. 7) not to a special command to execute H, as B 
supposes; the order to put the grand vizier to death is given at the 
end of y. 9 in the words 3752 won : 

For 35m (3 statim operuerunt faciem ejus) read, with Condamin 
(Revue biblique, 7, 2, 258-261, cited by S) and Perles (Analekten, 
p. 32) (7EM, as in y 34, 6, following 6" durpary to zpoodrw. The 
omission of the " is due to haplography; for }=" =‘ cf. RMB (9,8) 
= M775 and end of second paragraph of nn. on IAN “, 1) also 
n.on 399) for 7799) in Nah. 38. $ wou} <a? uncelo, but Ff “EN1 
NOD ON SMAN vant. S da stand H schmachbedeckt follows T; 
but in his nn. he says: Owing to the reference to 6, 12, the reading of 
the received text is preferable: there M (sic/) was a NR “SM; now 
H’s head is covered. S adds: Cf. for the game of dice, that took place 
between H and M, 3, 7; 9, 24-26.—If S had been able to carry his own 
notes through the press, he would probably have suppressed these 
remarks; cf. un. on 4, 7. 

(9) For 727A see un. on 1,10. According to 6’ the eunuch who 
suggested the impalement of Haman was not 7{279M, but Bovyafay= 
"M52 who had been impaled according to 2, 23; see n. on 2, 22. 

$4 IM DO does not mean Huc accedit quod (S). It implies an 
ellipsis, just as the D3 in "5 035 (Ruth 2, 21) J might also state that, or 
os in “AN “5 ms (Gen. 3, 1) which corresponds to our by the way or 
a& propos; cf. also FN"2N Nb) sis) in 5,12. Harbonah thinks H is a 
N72 712; he ought to be impaled, and we have not only a malefactor 
worthy of impalement, behold! there is also (3) the pole which H set 
up for M.* If we render this 03 by Why, we have again an ellipsis: 
Why, there is the pole means originally: Why don’t you impale him? 
There is the stake &c. 

*H’s pole is a May-pole; see Pur. 11, 23; BL 102. 

56 


8,1 CRITICAL Notes on ESTHER 153 


fi 7527 Sy BMT TWN (cf. 1 S 25, 30; Jer. 32, 42) could 
mean only who made kind remarks about the King,(AV who has spoken 
good for the King, LB der Gutes fiir den Kénig geredet hat) but not 
who did the King a good turn or who rendered the King a great service 
(S der doch fiir des Kénigs Heil gesorgt hatte). We must point 925 
=D and insert 5323 before this. 6 has simply Mapdoyaiw rd Lahde 
mept Tod BaciAéws, in G* a corrector has added ayaa. Also 6" reads rov 
Mapdoxaiov tov AaAnoovta ayaba rept Tod Baciews, J qui locutus est pro 
rege, S Jado Ns |Zpeae ely Ss, T NDDD PIA NID DT; © 
N25 Sy Nmaw 5°57; of. also T 259, 18; 260 7: NM20 VN 
NOD 59. 

The stem 35 means to complete, to mature, to wean, to do; it may 
mean to do good or to do evil (cf. 1 S 24, 18) but, as a rule, it means, in 
Hebrew, to do good; cf. wy 18, 6; 116,7; 119,17. Arab. KLys ja- 
mila means a good deed, a favor, benefit. In Assyrian, on the other 
hand, tiru gimilli, to return a deed (HW 198°) means, as a rule, to 
return an evil deed, to retaliate. Our verb to retaliate means now 
especially to retaliate injuries, but formerly one could say also to re- 
taliate favors; to retaliate a visit meant to return a call, to repay a 
visit. Similarly to requite may mean to recompense, to reward or to 
retaliate, to punish; cf. "JI°WN ND (= 12 DW Iw or aR aN 
yor oy 13723) verily I will punish him (or them) ‘in Am. 1. 2 (see 
OLZ 10, 306). 

The stem 5795 is a secondary modification of Sia (Arab. S) with 
partial assimilation of the initial 5 to the sonant nasal (cf. Nah. 31, 
below) and 5735 is also allied to "793;* cf. ¥ 57, 3 (Sd “WOR 55) 
and Nah. 26, below; 45, below.+ The cage root is 05 (Nah. 35, 
below). Cf. also Assyr. kamalu, to be revengeful, to resent, be indig- 
nant; kimiltu, resentment, anger = sap (HW 335”). Just as to 
retaliate was formerly used in the sense of to repay or return a favor 
&c, so the verb to resent could formerly be used in a good sense = to 
receive with satisfaction. 

es 

(1) J thinks that 5 NI 44 must be a secondary correction for 
55 mbya3 75, E told the King that she had been M’s wife. Very 
naive! Contrast 2, 3 (>4nz) and last paragraph of nn. on 2,7; cf. 
also J’s restoration of =>an pra ray ayes lich cra TS "5 in! im. .on 7, 4. 
GY ore évwxeiwrar aity Soe not presuppose a different text; it is merely 
an explanation of robe) NIT M724, just as J quod esset patruus suus. 

* For the transposed doublet $3 in Syriac see footnote to n. on vy, 7. 


TJust as we find both 493 and 55 in Assyrian, so we have also both piru and 
pilu, elephant; cf. qirbu and qablu=qalbu (see last n. on 4,4). 


57 


154 THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SEMITIC LANGUAGES 8,38 


The meaning of the Septuagintal phrase is that E had been taken into 
M’s house and adopted by him; oixefos means a member of the family; 
instead of airy we must read aird. T > xin va and $ aS fon [is 
follow f#l; jen is due to a misunderstanding, but it does not seriously 
affect the sense. 

(3) M oman by aw Ww INpwmD mx is a tertiary explan- 
atory Epa to the preceding "3387 yan 197 TN; it is derived from 
oon oy awn Ww FP Wnawn2 ayw? in the secondary addi- 
tion 9 25; cf.un.on y.5. For the prefixed Waw explicative see the 
remarks on NMIDN (1, 10) and n.on 1,17; cf. also n. on 8,6. For 
scribal expansions derived from parallel passages see n. on y. 14. 

(5) 6 omits Wa “IN Taw) Wa 7d Math Wws1. This is 
corrected in the margin of 6°. 3S omit ['3°YD "38 ADIw', S transpos- 
ing clauses 2 and 3. The fourth clause, [3°73 "38 [WDID, does not 
imply that E takes a personal interest in the matter (as S supposes) but 
it is a coquettish climax, equivalent to our if you really care for me a 
little. 

The clause "3380 NOTA j2 yan naw © Domuadco 
Lae ) is a seribal expansion interrupting the connection between FAN 
p-"5ci and ANS “Ww (which may be impersonal; cf.n.on y. 10). It 
is derived from the end of v. 3. 

(6) The first clause of this verse seems to be a gloss (or variant; cf. 
last n. on 1, 4) to the second; "f°Ww SSA FSD°N means How could 
TI see (8 ras yap duvycopa idetv) not How could I have seen (B, Wd) lit. 
How shall I be able and (how shall I) see. For the perf. "F775 after 
the preceding impf. S596 see GK”, § 112, p. 

The idea (AoF 3, 3, below) that the final 7 in 7728 is due to Per- 
sian influence is just as fanciful as the explanation of 77)"2 ; see conclu- 
sion of nn.on 1,5. The constr. of " ia should be VIS8, not T1285 : 
similarly the constr. of (row should be you, not 7 ap rows cf. nn. on 
qrra (1,5) and wratw (4, 10). 

(7) The clause 9°3>7072 17° mow awe dp isa aes just as 3" 
yo Sy oT Sy awn TWN APT naw (9, 25) is not 
original. The King did not give the order: anoy See (7, 9) because 
H had planned to exterminate all the Jews in the Persian empire; this 
plan had been sanctioned by the King. H was impaled because he had 
deceived the King (cf. second n. on 6, 10). The alleged assault on the 
Queen was merely a pretext (cf. n.on 7,7). The gloss row Ww by 
o-ty7"2 «3 is derived from 9, 25 just as the scribal expansions in vy. 
3 and 5. 

(8) ME Sy (so, too, $) means, of course, concerning the 
Jews (Tj way 7733) not to the Jews (B). LB and AV for the Jews. 

58 


8,9 CriticAL Notes on ESTHER 155 


S in Betreff der Juden. Wdsays, pp by may mean in Betreff 
der Juden or an die Juden; he thinks this equivocal phrase is inten- 
tional inasmuch as the letters were sent both to the satraps concerning 
the Jews and to the Jews themselves. But this view is erroneous; cf. 
third paragraph of nn. on v. 9. 

@Y has for qo0n Ow. and =n MYAOWI :— ex Tod 6vopyatos pov 
and ré daxtvAtw pov, but fl is no doubt more original. J, of course, pre- 
fers 6. 

% omits the first imperative .2MD and the 4 before Yannm, and 
reads 3MD2 instead of AMD 75 (cf. n. on “55, 1, 16) so that 7s 
sor appears, not as predicate to 3Mm5, but as a relative clause 
(y2a tl») coordinated to the preceding relative clauses. Schultz mis- 
interpreted 37795 7s in the same way: the new letters sent by M are 
to bé just as irrevocable as the letters sent by H. 

SH Dinm is not possible in a coordinated relative clause (J). Read 
prom as in 3,12. If pinm> were correct, we might feel tempted to 
read it DAGIMs as a pass. part. = Arab. grin. I pointed out in BA 
1, 180 that Jyxro for Jozi was originally a Nif‘al form, the initial 
m being due to the analogy of the participles of the other derived con- 
jugations. 

(9) V. 9 containing 48 words (192 letters) is the longest verse in the 
p7251nN5, longer even than its anti-Jewish pendant in 8, 12. 

SH iro = Babyl. Simanu (stem wg): For ) =m see Pur. 23, 19; 
82,24; cf.n.0on 1,9. Simanu, appointed time, season has passed into 
Heb. as 7727 with partial assimilation of the initial 5 to the sonant 
nasal (AJ SL 22, 202, n. 9) as in Opt, fetters for D7p2t, O°p3d (Nah. 
31, below). In Syriac the v=m is expressed by 3: 15} (modern Syriac 
zona). For the third month, i.e. Sivan (3 Siban) GY has the first 
month, i.e. Nisan. In the margin of 6% this has been corrected in 
accordance with fl. Shas y+} (which is connected with |j}., boar ; 
see KAT®, 398, n. 5) for KOE just as S uses wpu| ste for MID (2, 16) 
and jim> for "wy T?wom DP me (9, 21). Jensen combines athe 
with the cuneiform name of a star (Procyon?) xabagiranu (HW 268). 
The intervocalic b became v (ZA 19, 235; contrast AG’, § 57, a) and this 
may have been elided; cf. also Heb. "3258 for mOcar=ma¢gar=mag¢ear 
=mangar (stem 7$}) and Tow (2 K 4, 2) = Tio, MNVAWN = 
pTIVawA, NAMA = nmin; see Kings 241, 24. 

For pana OS G PRB cio eo" eypady Tois “lovdaios) read, 
following S, "75 5y, as in the preceding verse; cf. nn.on 7,7 (75x: for 
—->y) and 1,17. This “74 53 must be connected with the preceding 

59 


156 THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SEMITIC LANGUAGES 8,10 


clause "57572 TZ Ww SDD, not with 3mD%. On the other hand, 
the 5x before D°LS"7TDMN (see n. on 3, 12) depends, not on FZ, but 
on SMD". 4%, correctly, bejan NN wsgiade WSs, Sogdo No acco. 
The instructions were, of course, sent to the Persian officials, not to the 
Jews. The 4 before DME "T2TNG ON must be omitted; it was added 
after 5y had been miswritten 53. The prefixed 4 is omitted in $; on 
the other hand S$ has in 9,2 basse) jdtupss encase onsicas instead 
of Ton mn sw 55D D2; cf. also nn. on 9, 10. 29. 

The proclamation was to be made known to all the peoples (555 53 
Dy) in the Persian empire; in this way the Jews learned of it, so that 
they could organize armed resistance to defend their lives and protect 
their property. M learned what had happened, when H’s decree was 
published in Susa (4, 1) although H had, of course, sent no special mes- 
sage to M. Contrast opt >> Ox oso mow in 9, 20. 

The gloss O27055) Dans> OTF «ON, at the end of the present 
verse, is due to the misreading O° 7°77 ON instead of “FF by. The 
Jews have always adopted the Pee SN of the country in which they 
settled; the Persian Jews understood Persian, just as the Alexandrian 
Jews spoke Greek; it was not necessary to write to them in- Heb. or 
Aramaic; cf. nu. on last clause of e¢. 1. 

(10) The verbal forms Sn5"%, Onm™, mown are impersonal; ef. 
remarks on SMD WRN (v. 5) and Se (3, 7). 6 eypadn, eoppayicGn, 
and ééarécrekav; but it is not necessary to read 3ND%, although $ 
renders a2d2Zlo; nor need we read (with J) {nd>w". 

For O°", couriers see n. on 3, 13. 

f& DOOD is an explanatory gloss to the following wD" 72D4- 
Another glossator has added the Pers. term D°"TWONM, and 32 
p°272"5 is a tertiary explanation of this antiquarian gloss; cf. v. 14 
where 2°572590 "52 is omitted. 6” has for "255 D°O IOSD Ow 72 
D2 732 SNOT ws simply da BiBrAuddpwv (3 per vere- 
darios) and at the beginning of v. 14 6’ substitutes for "259 B-S37 
DANWINM wT the term of iets (J veredarii celeres) but a correc- 
tor has added in G@: xai émBarar trav wropiwv of peyotaves. S omits the 
gloss D"O102, and substitutes for the antiquarian gloss, giving the 
Pers. name of the royal horses, a Pers. word for the couriers :—i,a0 
bessS lo asd 4255 Leces] pase Had pao 12,1. For the Waw 
explicative in pa>o cf. n. on 1, 17. LB reitende Boten auf jungen 
Maulthieren, AV posts on horseback, and riders on mules, camels and 
young dromedaries. According to Ed. Meyer, Geschichte des Alter- 
thums, 3, 67 both O}7MNWMN and Os 2777 2 refer to the couriers, 
not to their horses; but this is erroneous. J considers D°OOD OE a 
ridiculous combination; but modern couriers often travel on horseback 

; 60 


8,10 CriticaAL Notes on ESTHER 157 


(or in automobiles) although courier means originally runner. We also 
have now mounted infantry. 

fH ZWD means racers; this might mean race-horses or swift drom- 
edaries; but Herod. 5, 14; 8, 98 favor the meaning race-horse; see 
Kings 80, 45. © xat rots dppace = 35554 instead of wd) (1 K 5, 8) is 
not good; no scribe would have corrupted 35" into wD"; cf. remarks 
on the emendation xAyjpwv for iuév in nn. on 3,7. Heb. wiID , property 
means originally mount=animal for riding; cf. Assyr. rukisu (see 
Ezra 57, 38) whereas Syr. (s1© means originally property and then 
especially animal for riding. In Mic. 1,13 s5"95 FADD ON is 
corrupt; it cannot mean bind the chariot to the swift beast; but the 
meaning of the passage may be: Abandon the chariot for the racer, i.e. 
try to get away as quickly as possible, not in a chariot, but on the back 
of a swift horse. € Dm7 may be a corruption of “wD, although 
the reading of Sil is confirmed by 6 Yodos = ON = Wwo25 (not = yan is 
as Marti supposes). 3 [ass, |Amape 2,2; cf. Gen. 46, 29: p <0 
abaso eres = (NDI FOP TON. Heb. wp to cast down may 
mean to cast off; cf. Tun Poke we 1b: Bice 3,76: and) & Mvo wn 
(Ex. 23, 11). (aie 

SA OIINVMING is derived from Old Pers. khsatra, dominiwm; so 
it means dominicus. Instead of gs AUT we must point pn ZnNo 


(cf. n. on 3, 12). This was the name of the horses kept for the “personal 
use of the King (cf. 6, 8: 75127 59 257 TWN ONC). The horses 
(saddle horses and teams) tea by a landed proprietor for his personal 
use are often called in Germany Herrschaftspferde (i.e. seigneurial or 
manorial horses) in distinction from the Wirthschaftspferde, i.e. the 
farm-horses, work-horses, &c. B (486, 3) correctly states: Wir mitissen 
wohl an herrschaftliche Pferde denken, welche in kéniglichen Gestiiten 
gross gezogen wurden; cf. the Ger. Trakehner. T "9077, T ->-OAy 
(naked) seems to be a corruption of NODOAN, courier, and T N5SDO"N 
is a transposition (cf. footnote to n. on 7,7) of NIDSDD = Syr. 1-822 = 
tabellarius. Cf. conclusion of seventh n. on 7, 4 (N75 TIS = Np") 
and Kings 84, 3; see also last n. on 4, 4. 

For noah "32, which would mean sons of the herdsmen (cf. Syr. 


Loses , her dsman) we must read po "32,+ sons of the herds or 
studs, i. e. bred in the royal studs for the special use of the King. In 
Syriac , Lases means a herd, especially of horses; in the Talmud, ya 
seems to denote a cross between a jackass and a mare,i.e.a mule; instead 


{In the same way BD7D, horses must be pointed rol 's))>) ; not Dwe ; the latter 


DOV 
form (Syr. ta;s) means horsemen. The objections raised by Arnold (JBL 24, 45) are 
not valid. Itis true that we use horse for horsemen. 


61 


158 THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SEMITIC LANGUAGES 8,11 


of 37a" it would be better to read qa (=ramak). Nor does Arab. 
%Ko, rdmaka denote a blood-horse, bred in a stud; in fact, it means an 
inferior mare. But such changes of meaning are not uncommon; the 
word mare means in German (Mdhre) a mean or poor horse, a jade; 
ua hajin means in classical Arabic of low origin, a mean or poor 
horse, but in modern Arabic it is used for fast dromedary. The etymo- 
logical equivalent of knave in German, Knappe, means squire of a knight, 
while in modern English, knave is used for rogue. J’s objections against 
the interpretation sons of the studs are gratuitous. Cf. Fleischer 
in Levy’s Talmudic dictionary, 4, 487°. The stem 77a may be 
Semitic; it may be a transposition of 075; cf. Arab. pay karim, 
noble and our well-bred. The primitive meaning is dug =tilled, culti- 
vated, cultured; see AJSL 23, 247; cf. conclusion of preceding note. 

(11) The clause O°05 7 jn] “WON means, of course, that 
(AV, incorrectly wherein; so, too, C 217) H; S wodurch) the King had 
given (permission) to the Jews (ef. "M5", 9, 13, and Kings, 113, 7) not 
which he had given to the Jews, referring to the horses. S’s statement 
that the King presented those horses to the Jews is unwarranted. 

$8 5075 does not mean to assemble, but to organize themselves, 
to take concerted action. GY interprets this to mean ypyobar Tois vopos 
avtév; cf. 1 M 6, 59: orjowpey airois Tod ropeverbar Tois vopipos avTov, 
10, 37: Kai ropevéoOwoav Tots vopos atitav. At any rate, the idea is not 
that they should assemble on the day of the massacre planned by H, but 
that they should assemble in advance to organize armed resistance for 
the 13 of Adar. If they had assembled on that day, they would have 
been unable to protect their property. Cf. n. on 9, 2. 

The phrase Ow59 59 Tad (S pts seakeS) means to defend 
their lives, lit. to stand wp for their lives (see Pur. 34,1). To make a 
stand means to take a position of defense and resistance. The heading 
of c. 8 in AV correctly states: Ahasuerus granteth to the Jews to defend 
themselves. This is much more appropriate than the summary given in 
LB: Die Juden haben Erlaubniss sich an ihren Feinden zu rdachen. 
The idea of the King is not, that the Jews may attack any one who is 
supposed to be unfriendly disposed toward the Jews; they only receive 
permission to resist any attack. The repetition of the terms used in the 
edict of H, taxd) 3°) T20rD, implies that the Jews shall be 
permitted to resort to retaliatory measures: if any one attempts J~2whd 
onm& Tad) si, then IN& ARM WAM raw. If the 
Russian Jews had been permitted to organize themselves for self- 
defense, the majority of the pogroms (see Pur. 35, 11) would never 
have happened; cf. n. on 9,5. It is true that GY has instead of sa755 
many Epes by :— BonPncai re abrois kal xpyobar Trois avridikors aitay Kal 

62 


8,11 CriticaAL Notes on ESTHER 159 


Tois avTiKEevors avTaV ws BovrAovrat, but this is not the original Heb. text; 
it seems to be derived from OZ"95 OFPNIWI Ww (at the end of 9, 
5) which is omitted in GY. Even Bon@joai re airois is not an accurate 
rendering of Dw 5» T1275. The Heb. phrase corresponds to Ger. 
Nothwehr (i. e. self-defense)* while the Greek phrase corresponds to the 
Ger. Selbsthiilfe. Selbsthiilfe (taking the law into one’s own hands) may 
be more aggressive than self-defense. 

fA 5°m is a gloss; S: (alle) Bewaffnete (des Volks und der Satra- 
pien). Cf. also third n. on 9, 16. 

For On& Os read ONS OMT: cf. Num. 10, 9: “ET ASN 
D=mx. A participle may take a verbal suffix (cf. "iy &ce, GK", § 116, f) 
but the substantive "32 cannot be construed with AN. S has for AX 
Oms osm se oy Sn b> @ obs) Nay mim Oo m 
yim Tp 3727) simply pas wasstey walsas. LB die sie dngstigten 
is misleading; AV, correctly, that would assault them. 

S’s suggestion, that we should supply oy" =n in3 after 
DMS oO [7H is gratuitous; at any rate this addition would be just 
as superfluous as the second Fwy after MITWD ANT in 2,18. It 
is probably due to his misunderstanding of the clause =o in “DN 
p-s575 at the beginning of this verse. 

S’s note, Die Lesart (OMX DMZ instead of ONN BRM) ist 
zweifelhaft, da man nicht erwarten wird, dass diese Bedrdanger von 
Weibern und Kindern werden angegriffen werden, is due to some 
uncorrected misunderstanding, just as the remarks referred to in n. on 
4,7. fl pw ae) is a scribal expansion derived from 3, 13 (see Pur. 
34, 5) but S’s remark, von Weibern und Kindern hatte man schwerlich 
Gefahr fiir sein Leben zu befiirchten is unwarranted: a heathen woman 
might assault a Jewish woman, a heathen boy might attack a Jewish 
boy; some heathen children might kill an old Jew &e. 

mt pias oboe ow ao) is a gloss derived from 3, 13 (cf. n. on 
pp 57, v. 14). The phrase ‘Pt 73" 73272 is omitted by the glosssator 
in the present passage. 6’ omits pT =y) “YD7Q even in 3,13. On the 
other hand, 6 adds réxva in 7,4. In ec. 3 these additions are appro- 
priate, because all the Jews were to be exterminated, and H had prom- 
ised to pay 10,000 talents into the royal treasury. Therefore all the 
Jews had to be killed, both young and old, women and children; and 
their property had to be confiscated, otherwise H would not have been 
able to pay the 10,000 talents. Here, however, the Jews received per- 
mission only to organize themselves and to defend their lives (oy Sas 
Dws:) by slaying, if necessary, all the people of the provinces who 


*In Moses Schulbaum’s Deutsch-Hebr. Worterbuch (Lemberg, 1881) by mn yy 
WWD} is given as the Heb. equivalent of Nothwehr. 


63 


160 THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SEMITIC LANGUAGES 8,138.14 


assaulted them (OMNR Ov™™"EM). They had permission only mond 
onp7 “wpa7a2 (9, 2) i.e. to lay hands on those who attempted to do 
them harm; they were allowed forcibly to resist a forcible attack upon 
their persons or property. 6 duvvwvra (16, 20) does not mean they may 
be avenged on them (so AV) but they may repel them. Wd’s conception 
that the enemies of the Jews were to be massacred without being able to 
offer any resistance (die Feinde der Juden sollen wehrlos von diesen 
umgebracht werden) is unwarranted. B-R 360 (1. 13) correctly states, 
the Jews were granted permission, alle welche ... . sie bedrangen, zu 
tédten. Similarly S says, Den Juden wird durch ein Decret das Recht 
gegeben, fiir den 13. Adar Schutzmassregeln gegen ihre Feinde zu 
treffen; but he makes the gratuitous addition und dieselben mit Weib 
und Kind auszurotten. Even the received text speaks only of the slay- 
ing of their assailants. 

Driver (LOT*, 486) says: If all these measures were taken in self- 
defense, they need no justification; but the terms of the narrative itself 
make it extremely difficult to think that this was the case. This state- 
ment, however, is incorrect, just as the statement that it seems impossible 
to acquit M of permitting an wnprovoked massacre. Nor, continues 
Driver, can the request in 9, 13 be excused. But the gibbeting of H’s 
ten sons and the second massacre in Susa may have been necessary in 
order to prevent further anti-Jewish outbreaks. The personal safety of 
the Queen and the Grand Vizier made it necessary in Susa to teach the 
enemies of the Jews a lesson. 

(13) The phrase DFV7D"NA OPTD (S weataspso Se ohhh, 

© yyrran4 “sya yrsny)) he not mean to take vengeance (cf. also 


Pur. 34, 7) but to inflict just punishment (AV to avenge themselves on 
their enemies). The verb Dp is used in the Maccabean psalm Nah. 1, 2 
of God; see Nah. 53, i; 52, vii (also vi). Cf. m1 ap by (v 94, 1) and 
Is.ed, 245 “S1N2 Mapas) “OS OF MN “in (for m=p see Kings 
187, 21). Injuries inflicted by the assailants of the Jews are to be 
avenged, but there is to be no revengeful spirit, no indulgence in resent- 
ful and malicious feelings, no unrestrained revenge. This may be too 
ideal a picture, but this explanation is no doubt in harmony with the 
view of the narrator; cf. O74" AN snow > W722) (9,10). J’s emen- 
dation ‘8 TAN = instead of OT"24ND pp (5 is gratuitous. 
(14) J thinks that D°=S9M74 is a gloss to eaiaiges: ; but it is merely 
a scribal expansion derived from 3, 13; so, too, the following "273 
S55 (cf. footnote to n. on 2,3). The combination p=;n7) OTS 
would be an anticlimax, just as FMD sbi at the end of v.15. If 
it were original (S$ has simply dstenzms) we would expect D°S 177 
p31; the passive participle D°537%7 means pushed, urged, driven, 
while D°>72"2 means eager: in 3, 13 the couriers carried out the com- 
64 


8, 15-17 CriticAL Notes on HSTHER 161 


mand of H, because they were compelled to obey his orders, even if they 
were distasteful to them; here the couriers are not D797, but oa, 
i. e. they take a personal interest in the matter; cf. n. on 2,9. For 
pa read D>a2. 

Also the clause "27 www. PIM. May (GY egereOy Se 76 zpoo- | 
Taypa Kal év Sovcos) is a scribal expansion derived from 3, 15 (contrast 
B). 3% takes {39 M2 as a relative clause, coordinating MAT to 
pan MOD: —i4j.5 —toem ,n9d|) Lpocare [a\Aa>. Similarly 
S renders: wnd das Dekret war gegeben in der Kénigsburg zu Susa, i. e. 
and the decree (which the couriers were ordered to transmit to the 
satraps) had been given in the royal castle of Susa (K: the couriers 
left . . . . as soon as the decree had been given in the castle of Susa; 
this would be "35 yn ; cf. n. on 8, 4). 

(15) For "475 no5sn (which is omitted in 6; but 6S taxwOivny aepi- 
ynv) read MSDN1 AWN, just as we have Ves5N1 yi after p71; of. 
n. on 1, 6. 

fi 573 AT MOP (omitted in G") is a gloss; cf. n. on 7,8. GY 
atepavov éxwv xpvaotv, S bon fasacc, T NA NINN x>-555 : 

SEL Vaa5N) vant mM is rendered in G" xat diadyya Bvoowvov 
roppupodv (G" zepuroppupov). J amictus serico pallio atque purpureo; 3S 
Psa jpeo | 4eR> ypc. 

fA TS'z (omitted in GY") means she roared, shouted; see Nah. 39, 
1. 5. B kreischte (shrieked, screamed with delight). The people of 
Susa, at least the majority of them, exulted over the downfall of H and 
the elevation of M; their boisterous mirth was not due to the edict pub- 
lished in favor of the Jews, as B would have it. J thinks we ought to 
substitute $a ANI) for GMw TSyxz. But dbz is correct; 
sma m>rnz, however, is an anticlimax, just as O-|INT OD 
(v. 14). The second verb is an explanatory gloss. 

The term F748, light is especially appropriate inasmuch as M and 
E were originally gods of light; see Pur. 9, 36; 10, 32; 11, 20; 22, 6; 26, 
34; cf. MDOG, No. 33, p. 35, below; also ZDMG 61, 287, 21. 

(17) & prefixes to iovdaGov = DTT" the verb zepuereuovro cai. G6" 
substitutes zepereuvovro for D-NY (C yours). S has simply 
weaoziss. C’s emendation O°7M°M_2 is unnecessary. It is possible 
that O-77"N7 means Judaizing in the sense of sympathizing with the 
Jews, favorably disposed toward the Jews; cf. Hellenizers &e; Arab. 
Us taqailasa means to side with QYais (WdG 1, 37). Contrast 


pry o“ean (9, 27). 
65 


162 THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SEMITIC LANGUAGES 91-2 


io) 


(1) 6Y has here rpoxadexdry =O WY Mwidw; so, too, in 8, 12; 
contrast last n.on 3,7. In @* a corrector has substituted recoapeoxat- 
dexary. 

For Da Dw OT a aw Tw ova S has simply 
omaanspssas, depending (contrast SG*, § 249, D) on the preceding 
opakiteS = Nyy. Both clauses, OTT "DN MAW WN OTs 
pma wibw> and ova man ov bw 7wN seem to be 
scribal expansions. 

The pronoun X47 does not refer to D4", as B and Wd state; apa 
NWT means it was changed (Keil) =S |Zpeas Astute]. AV it was 
turned to the contrary. 

(2) $A I57p2 (so, too, 9, 16) is pluperfect; cf. nn. on Mwy (1, 9) 
and bmp 8, 11). The apodosis does not begin with 455 ip3 (AV, K) 
but with Tn (LB) cf. n. on "455 (1, 17). 

For onr"7 “wpa S has omeS wpOSo. The meaning of the 
Heb. phrase is undoubtedly whe tried to do them bodily harm &ce, not 
who were unfriendly disposed; cf. Num. 35, 23 (5 a™~e xd ST 
WNP7 wPaa Nd») and 1S 24, 10 (25, 26). 

The chats oo> tay xd weed does not mean no one stood up 
against them. The enemies of the Jews attacked them, but could not 
prevail against them. There is a difference between "29 xs ocx 
pops and ppp Op xd oN, although Wellhausen reads 
“Ta = = “ap in y 55,19. AV, correctly, no one could withstand them; 
so, too, S (N iemand konnte vor ihnen bestehen) but in the introductory 
remarks prefixed to his nn. on c. 9 he makes the unwarranted statement: 
Die Judenfeinde werden am dreizehnten des Monats Adar ausgerottet. 
Vom Schrecken gelahmt wagen sie keinen Widerstand, sondern lassen 
sich im ganzen Reiche ruhig hinmetzeln (cf. n. on 4, 7). The same 
mistake is found in 3 (nullusque ausus est resistere). Cf. n. on IQ3T4 
(5, 1) and Nah. 53, iv: "25> TWay— "73 "} aot, who can endure His 
fury. Heb. 777, to abide may mean endur e, remain firm, and Dip, 
to stand may have the same meaning (cf. to stand fire &c). Nor is it 
necessary to read OFIH2 (CT JWTSN2 as in Josh. 10, 8; 21, 42; 23,9. 
Wad’s statement, Hs wird nicht gesagt, dass die Heiden anfingen; schon 


die, welche das Ungliick der Juden suchten, wurden umgebracht. Jeder 


also, der im Rufe eines Judenfeindes stand, ward getédtet, is gratuitous. 

The clause at the end of this verse, Drama 55 Sy onmp 555 "5 

is an illogical scribal expansion derived from the end of c. 8; cf. n. on 8, 

14; see also passages like Deut. 2, 25; 11, 25; Josh. 2,9, &c. The reason 

why_no one could withstand them was not, that all the gentiles were 
66 


9,3-6 CriticAL Notes on ESTHER 168 


frightened, but that the Jews were fully prepared for the attack and had 
organized a vigorous resistance and defense. 

(3) For Nd “Wy see n. on 3, 9. 

$A D-NwID does not mean extolled (J extollebant, S pour, GY 
ériuwv, ©? OTIw2, LB erhoben) but they supported (AV helped). 

Also the clause at the end of v. 3, O59 “7779 IND 5Er 7D, isa 
scribal expansion. It is expressed in 6%", but GY omits v. 4. 3 has 
D7 instead of "57°73. The reason why the satraps &c favored the 
Jews is given in y. 4. 

(4) In the same way the clause at the end of v. 4, "D77972 W°NMT "5 
Sa 0, is due to seribal expansion; 59759 is inf. absol. (cf. n. on 
FIM, 2, 18). 

(5) fa V7aN) 5777 is a scribal expansion, due to WAN)... . 17 
in the following verse (cf. n. on 8, 14). 

The term OED (S wats, pl, T yw >) at the end of v. 5 
implies that the authorities did not interfere (cf. v. 3). If the authorities 
had allowed the Jews to organize armed resistance, the numerous 
massacres in Russia during the past few years would have been nipped 
in the bud (cf. n. on OwWS3 b> rap5, 8,11). But, as a rule, the assail- 
ants of the Russian Jews were supported by the governors, military 
commanders, officers of the police, & (see Pur. 35, 21; 48, 15. 22. 32. 38. 
44, 46. 48; 44, 2). $A Drz7D does not mean to their hearts’ content 
(French &@ ceeur joie; this would be pad MANNS or DWEI MAN 555). 
It implies simply that the Persian Jews had free hands in dealing with 
their assailants owing to the non-interference on the part of the authori- 
ties. Syr. slash ys) means in my opinion, in my judgment. The 
Persian governors &c received no instructions to suppress all anti-Jewish 
demonstrations (the royal edict issued by H could not be repealed; cf. 
8, 8°) but they did not support the assailants of the Jews, and allowed 
the Jews to defend themselves. In this way the permission granted by 
H’s edict was not worth more than the pound of flesh which Portia* 
allowed Shylock to cut from the body of Antonio. 

(6) The addition of F772 (S 12,22) is due to scribal expansion; 
the fight between the Jews and their assailants did not take place in the 
Acropolis, but in the City of Susa (cf. nn. on 1,2; 4,17). In vv. 12-15 
we find simply yw, not pata yor . The scribes did not know 
the exact meaning of "727; they regarded it as a kind of epitheton 
ornans; cf. Assyr. Uruk suptiru (JAOS 22, 8,n.7). No importance 
can be attached to GY év Sovcos TH oda, for GY has the same rendering 


* Cf. the interesting appendix to part iii (Vienna, 1907) of D. H. Maller, Die Mehri- 
und Sogotri-Sprache, pp. 159-165, entitled Die Wanderung der Portia-Sage; cf. ibid. pp. 23- 
33: Die Portia von Gischin, and pp. 73-87: Die Portia von Zafar; see also ZDMG 61, 495. 


67 


164 Tue AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SEMITIC LANGUAGES 9,7 


in 1,2. For the occasional effacement by the scribes of characteristic 
diversities see Nah. 18 (ad v. 4) and OLZ 10, 307, below. 

The addition of 4385 implies that 500 were dead or missing; ef. n. 
on aNd) 37> Taw (3, 13). In the present passage 3S has sim- 
ply osteo = 45755, but in v. 12: opeclo jujas odpo. In both passages 
SN) seems to be due to scribal expansion, just as 773N5 5°75 after 
37m MD (v.5). The glossator, of course, did not intend 3355 as 
inf. absol. (cf. n.on [WFAI, 2, 18) but as perfect (for FAN). Cf. n. 
on dap (v. 27). i 

(7) The names of the ten sons of H are just as doubtful as the names 
of the seven eunuchs (1, 10) or the names of the seven (?) councilors 
(1, 14). @ follows #1; also the names in 3 are almost identical with 
those given in f#l; in 8, and especially in G, the divergences (which are 
to some extent due to popular adaptation) are greater, as is evident from 
the following table: 

















AT 6" 6 s 3 
1 NOI Papoav kai Neoraw* Papoav (kai Tov) |Zop-e2e|Pharsandatha 
2 : ‘Eds Aadov ade pov’ eo Delphon 
3  NMEON @acya? Papva 2c22| Hsphatha 
4 anv Papadaba® Tayapapdaba® |tS232 Phoratha 
5 seSoN Bapoa! LS) Adalia 
6 NOTIN SapBayn b};-43 Aridatha 
a NMEINE Mappacipa Mappacaia Zatte2 Phermestha 
8 ‘ "O7N ‘Povdaiov er ke Arisai 
9 “TN *Apoaiov 391 Aridat 
10 xn) Za Bovbaitov® Ifabov0 20) Jezatha 

















(a) Corrected in GS to Sapcavvectay, GA Papcaveotav,—(b) GA Paya (L aca).—(e) GS 
Papaaba, GA Bapdaa,—(d) GSA Baped (L Bapea).— (e) GS ZaBovdebav, GA ZaBovyaba,—(f) GL 
kai Tov adeApov avtov is, of course, a corruption of AeAdwv.—(g) Taya may be due to dittogra- 
phy of ya in the preceding name in GV, ®acya; GL reads Papva, but this may be a corrup- 
tion of ®avya,—(h) $A 2p: 

G Sapoavecras May be more original than fA NNTWWwrAS; the 7 in 
§#l may be miswritten for 0. S |2opeee is a transposition of |Zopeas 
(so S$‘) which may be a corruption for jJmia;ze (5 transposed, ¢ mis- 
written for 2, « miswritten for 1; see SG*,§2,C). The form |2opss” 
is no doubt influenced by the Syr. word |2o;s2, beauty; corruptions 
of names are often not merely graphic but also due to popular etymology 
and adaptation; cf. ZDMG 61, 195, 9; 276, 8. 22. 28. Syr. |2ejaae 
means foolishness. 


68 


9,8.9 CriticaL Notes oN ESTHER 165 


G" Papoav kai tov adeAdpov avtod is a corruption of Papoay .. tay Kat 
Addgov. In 5 as) the = is miswriting for ~. The « in Adgov 
may be due to the influence of Aeddoi, deAdis, déeAdas. Aeddis and 
Ae\diov are Greek proper names. 

®acya may be transposed from Acday, and this may be a corruption 
of Aogar (with T for T; cf. last.n. on 2,14) =RMEBON. 3 222} is pho- 
netic spelling (see Kings 279, 52) for RMECN. vig 

(8) ®apadafa may be more original than NN715; the | may stand 
for \, and = for 5; cf. note on 457 (7,8) for 7m. The reading 
NM» is favored also by 6G" (Taya)dapdaba and S$ ~S3,p2 (S* BS;2) 
for 29,2. The / instead of din S* 2S;=2 may be due to dissimilation; 
see ZDMG 61, 194, 13; 195, 4 (cf. also .Lasks = Badakhshan; see 
JHUC, No. 114, p. 111°). The insertion of the ~ in S 44332 may be 
influenced by the Greek words in Syriac which begin with 42; cf. 
Brockelmann’s Lex. Syr. 286. G* ®apaaGa is miswriting for Papdaba 
(with A for A) cf. dovpar for dovpd& (see n. on y. 26). 

fA 2755N is supported by $ Ss The initial & of N7>5N may 
be due to dittography of the final & of the preceding NAS (for 
NM775) just as the prefixed Taya in 6' Tayadapdaba may be due to 
dittography (or rather tritography) of the second syllable of the pre- 
ceding ®acya; see above, n.g. The prefixed MN) before each of the 
ten names may be secondary. G*‘ BapeA may be a corruption of Ape = 
d5=- = 55x; the initial B may be due to the preceding name, 64 Bapdaba 
= G Papadaba. 

S |; corresponds to 4°" of fl NMATIAN; S* 2,42 has preserved 
the Mm. The transposition may be due to the fact that {js) is more 
common in Syriac than {-+3. Owing to the vocalic character of the r 
there is not much difference in Syriac between initial = and “~N; cf. 
SG?, § 52 (also § 32) and for the dropping of the final M see § 26,C. & 
SapBaxa may be a corruption of Apdaba, the initial Sa is perhaps due to 
dittography of the second syllable of the preceding Bapoa. Ap axa (for 
Apoafa) may be influenced by the Persian names *ApBdxns, ApBdpuos, 
*ApBravys, &e. 

(9) S 2omas may be a corruption of Lat;2 (with + for +, = for &, 
and ¢ for #) influenced, perhaps, by jasus, persuasion, supplication. 
S* Zesevze stands for 2atops, Leat;z2; the » is due to corrupt ditto- 
graphy of the following s. 6 Mappyaciwa = Bappacta = Pappucta; for m 
=b=p see AJSL 23, 235, n. 46; cf.n.on $ NAA = M NADA (1,10) 
and FIV AMDT (Am. 4,8) for FAI MMs Cv. 
y 32, 4 and BL 45, n. 1; also above, n. on 2, 7). + a pees 

S sms is miswritten for sm.5, and ff "5" may be miswritten for 
"579 =‘Povdaios. Cf. ‘Pwxrdpas. 

69 


166 THe AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SEMITIC LANGUAGES 9,10-11 


S «| stands for «95]. © ’Apoaios seems to correspond to No. 8: 
"T™"N ; it may be originally a variant of “Povdatos = "O°" which may 
be a corruption of "54" (see above). 

$ 40] seems to be shortened from BaovOaios, in 6 transposed: Za- 
BovOatos. 1 SMT" may be a corruption of NNW, Vazutha (with * 
for | and transposition) cf. WIAVWNMN (1, 1) for wa"wAEN. GS labovd 
may be a corruption of IZaBov§ = Za Bovd = Barlovd = NAIA = RNIN. Ch 
(EB 5245) thinks that RMT" is a corruption of "ME"x. It seems to me 
more probable that all the names of H’s sons are corruptions of Jerah- 
meel. Cf. footnote to n. on 2, 14. 

All these explanations are, of course, entirely conjectural (see Pur. 
27, 40, which might have been cited also in ZDMG 61, 195, 14) but it is 
important to show that all those divergences (apparently irreconcilable) 
may be derived from the same text. B’s statement, that some of the 
names in 6 are entirely different, is an exaggeration; Wd even says that 
[all] the names of the sons of H appear in & in an entirely different form. 

The Persian etymologies given by Benfey and Benary (quoted in 
B) are no doubt unsatisfactory (for Scheftelowitz see my remarks in 
AJP 27, 164; cf. J’s preface) but J’s Heb. etymologies are worse. J 
combines Bapoa = x55N with the name of the King of Sodom, pw" 
(Gen. 14, 2) and ‘Povdaios is supposed to be 2 NBA; for "Apoaios J 
compares "W7Y"; Pacya, J thinks, may be a corruption of "MOH; and 
Nnorw 7D (for #1 NmIWwAy) is supposed to be OMY WH, eques 
gloriae. 

(10) It is hardly necessary to add that the xai before rots déxa viovs 
Apov in 6" is secondary, just as the } before B"35"70TN bx in 8, 9. 
Four of the ten names have dropped out in 6" (just as four of the names of 
the seven councilors are not represented in G ; see nn. on 1, 14). There- 
fore the remaining six names were no longer felt to be identical with the 
ten sons of H. 

Instead of RATAN 72 Shas brodl - 

(11) Gen. 6, 13 affords no parallel to apa) "355 No which is 
equivalent to JUS Lt set, whereas "355 N3 in N2 Wa 55 yP 
9955 is synonymous with =q55 GP) and =5 "NiDD = Assyr. naSanni 
libbi (HW 484). It corresponds to the Assyr. ana Sakan abtibi 
fibla libbaSun in 1. 14 of the cuneiform account of the Deluge; see 
my remarks ad loc. in KAT? (cf. HW 231).* The phrase "55 No in 
Gen. 6, 13 means it is put before my mind (for consideration) or suggests 
itself to me; "55 wo “wa >> yP cannot mean According to me the 
end of all flesh is come, i. e. the extermination of mankind is at hand 
according to my opinion. Ezek, 7, 6 does not prove that "955 does not 


*For Jensen’s translation die Sturmfluth zu machen “‘brachte hervor”’ ihr Herz die 
grossen Gétter (KB 6, 231) see my remarks in JAOS 22, 9. 


70 


9, 13-17 CriticaL Notes on ESTHER 167 


depend on 83. Nor is it possible to derive VP from VP» to loathe 
(AoF 3, 396: taedet me generis humani). This idea is expressed in 
vv.6.7. Cf. also Am. 8,2: “ay dp Vpn No. 

(13) $ omits 210 7 Oy ON. 

For the justification of E’s request to gibbet the ten sons of H see 
last n. on 8, 11. ; 

(16) Sil sbaps is pluperfect (as in v. 2) and means they had organ- 
ized themselves ; contrast Symi publ in v.15. A new rnp was necessary 
as soon as the Jews learned that the edict was to be in force for one 
more day. 

B proposes to read Dips instead of M49 (G" dveravoavto, S cmed22}) 
and R (in K) proposes to read BDI) (8, 13) or Dp; also GB", 44» 
states that we must read an inf. of Dp; see, however, AJSL 21, 141, 
n. 21 and the remarks on the emendation xAypwv for tuov in nn. on 38, 7. 
$A OTD ND Mr is a misplaced gloss (cf. n. on 3, 7) with Waw expli- 
cative (cf, n. on 1,17) to M34 in v. 17; it is probably derived from v. 22 
(cf. n. on 8, 14). 

Instead of 75,000 (so, too, T$3) G has 15,000 (uvpiovs revraxiryiAcovs) 
ffl is more original; 6 represents a subsequent mitigation. S’s state- 
ment that 6 as well as 33 have 15,000 instead of 75,000 is incorrect; cf. 
n.on 4,7. We need not suppose that 75,000 represents the aggregate 
number of the enemies of the Jews (the soldiers of Antiochus Epiphanes 
and his successors) who were slain by the Jews in the Maccabean battles, 
although this may have been the opinion of the glossator who added the 
gloss 5°m in 8,11. We read in 1 M 11, 47 that 3,000 Jews, which Jona- 
than (the Maccabean prototype of Mordecai; see second n. on 6, 8) had 
sent to Antioch, at the request of King Demetrius II, about the end of 
B. 0, 145, slew 100,000 men there in one day. The whole city was at the 
mercy of the Jews (katexparyoay of ‘Iovdator THs TOAEWs ws WBovAovTO, Cf. 
ps5 OT wr, v. 5). This, it may be supposed, is the his- 
torical prototype of the slaughter of the assailants of the Jews in the 
Persian empire under the reign of Xerxes. 

(17) S’s rendering, Am dreizehnten Tage des Monats Adar da fanden 
sie Ruhe, und den vierzehnten machten sie zu einem Tage des Festmahls 
und der Freude, is impossible. K connects wand “wy sow jabs 
“AN (at the beginning of v. 17) with Dyawh TWwWAN oR wa +s 
DDN in the preceding verse, the intervening clause AN snow ed S722) 
O°" being regarded as a parenthesis. In GY this clause is Wasaga ec 
drwodecav yap ai’tav pupiovs TevTaKiryiAlovs TH TpioKaidexaty Tod Adap, Kal 
ovdev Sunpzacav. For &Y rpicxaidexarn (= Sil) G* has recoapeckadexary (cf. 
last n. on 3,7). The clause 977° AN smdw ed 7225, which severs 
the connection between DON py.) TW. ows AT and 
sa own aww ors. seems to be a scribal expansion, derived 

71 


168 THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SEMITIC LANGUAGES 9,18-21 


from the end of v. 10 (cf. footnote to n. on 2,3). The pice Td should 
be after "4. 

(18) V. 18 is omitted in S. 

(19) K*thiv D-F|T, Qeré O'y7|M (as though the 4} were due to 
dittography of the 5; cf. n. on DIIOTN , 1, 1) owing to»the following 
niw757; but Talmudic 7395 means inhabitant of an unwalled place, 
and MW" “ID OA is merely an explanatory gloss to O*7}"5". 
In pre-Maccabean times Jerusalem was the only fortress; all the other 
towns were T7775); cf. W 96, below. According to B and § the K*thiy 
is incorrect. 3 renders freely: Hi vero Judi qui in oppidis non mu- 
ratis ac villis morabantur. §% has |Z3pa% Lijoo sSky fijpas Liga, 
just as GY renders of Iovdata of Seorappévor év aon xopa tH &o. T 
NTTMSS WM PS PANT ONT SS PRAWT, @ 2277552 DH A ONT 
NMp"p7 Ms ad (astok esate At the end of the verse G adds: of dé xa- 
ToukovvTes €v Tais pntpowoAcow Kal Ti € Kal ¢ Tod Adap cippootvny ayabnv 
ayovow earoorédXovtes pepioas Kal Tois tAyoiov. This addition was originally 
omitted in 6’, 

For 30 (= nNw"d ; see n. on 2, 18) cf. TN (2, 9). Meg. 7% 
we read that Rabbi Jehudah sent Rabbi Osha‘yah a leg of veal and a 
pitcher of wine (WAN FTIWIN [27D TD Aw Pew) ATP a 
NVINT NAW NMSM NIT). T renders: FAT PTW (apov). J 
partes epularum et ciborum. 

(20) Wd thinks it not impossible that vv. 20-28 and 29-32, which B 
considers to be a subsequent addition, were taken from an older source, 
and that E was composed for the purpose of explaining these two docu- 
ments, just as some critics believe that the object of the Book of Jonah 
is to explain the psalm in c. 2; contrast AJSL 23, 256. B (376, below) 
stated: Die Einschaltung 9, 20-32 wird aus einem anderen Purim- 
Buche in unser Purim-Buch hineingestellt sein. But it is a mistake to 
suppose that the entire section 9, 20-32 is derived from a different source. 
The first three verses (20-22) are genuine, also the first part of 26 and 
vv. 27 and 28; but vv. 23-25, the second part of v. 26, v. 28», and 29-32 
represent secondary additions. They were not taken from an older 
source, but added by a later glossator (cf. Pur. 44, 31). 

M, the prime minister, had received reports from all the governors of 
the provinces, stating what had happened on the 13 of Adar, how many 
assailants of the Jews had been slain, and how the Jews had celebrated 
the following day. M sent this information to all his coreligionists in 
the Persian empire, urging them to commemorate this notable event for 
all time to come. 

(21) $8 psp> (f wanpd) is Aramaic (cf. last but one n. on‘l, 8). 
Ruth 4, 7, where we find psp, is a gloss. The phrase p7">y ppd 

72 


9, 22. 23 CriticaL NotrEes on ESTHER 169 


means to enjoin upon them. 3% has pass ~s20). § reads also 
oma bejan aiaoco at the beginning of v. 23. 


For "wy WAN OY AN IN WIND Wwy VAIN DY MS DD 
52 Shas 5915 {Lmao jpmsoip= re. just as 3 uses pele for wae) in 
8,9. For {jm cf. NOD od (Prov. 7, 20). 

(22) The 5 in DYI"D (© NMN Pata;.cf. n. on "754, 1, 17) is not 
the Kaph similitudinis, but the Kaph veritatis (GK, § 119, x). 

(23) The section vv. 23-25 is a gloss; see n. on v.20. The immediate 
sequel of v. 22 is v. 26:—D™5 sbaqn ovo AN" i.) by, therefore 
(i. e. on account of the Ew TaNd Mma Wy ON ws ma mw) 
they called these days Purim (i. e. portions, from “5 = "7775 = Vedic 
parti, portion). It was of course unnecessary in this connection to add 
after 5 Dw oy the explanation: 772 NI. The statement 54 
Sa NT op in v. 24 and 3,7 is quite different: it involves a new 
etymology of 35, and therefore it was necessary to add the explanation. 

The Persian term O75 is equivalent to Heb. M372, portions or 
presents of food (cf. Neh. 8, 10. 12) exchanged at the Purim festival. 
The singular of O°"5 was not 949, but ™15=77755, the Middle 
Iranian form (*purdé) of Vedic ptiirti (syn. daksina) portion, espe- 
cially the portion given by the offerer to the sacrificer; cf. 737g Ex. 29, 
26; Lev. 7, 33; 8,29. The omission of the 4 (which is preserved in 6% 
govpo:) is due to haplography; cf. n. on WITATWMN (1,1). G dpovpac 
(i. e. watches, vigils) is a popular adaptation of dovpa: (with A for A) 
=dovpsk. This popular etymology may have been suggested by the 
vigils (ef. nw, Ex. 12, 42) or watch-meetings which have been held 
on New Year’s eve from times immemorial. The Purim festival is a 
Jewish adaptation of the Persian spring festival Nawr6z, and this is 
derived from the Babylonian New Year’s festival (about the time of the 
vernal equinox) so that O°™35=Mm 274 corresponds to Lat. strenae, 
French étrennes. The observance of the Persian New Year’s festival 
was combined with the commemoration of Nicanor’s Day; see Pwr. 3, 6; 
4, 41; 9, 26; 10, 39; 14, 40; 17, 7. 23; 46, 24. 29. 32;* 50,37; 51, 10; 52, 
4; ZDMG 61, 275, 17; 277, 1. 

For dap read, with SE, api; so, too, Oort; cf. the Qeré in v. 27 
and Kings 127, 46; 269,6. The ue dap is Matidie (cf. last n. on 4, 7) 
but it is not a enamine verb derek from rDap (B, W). 

The clause MYwYd TENT “WN MN refers to the celebrations of the 
victory over their assailants, and ome "777 DMD wR MR alludes 
to the two days of feasting on the 14 and 15* of Adar. The Jews in 
Susa had celebrated the 15" day; the provincial Jews, the 14. M 
recommended the perpetual general observance of both days. 


*In 1.22 read Franz for Harder. 


73 


170 THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SEMITIC LANGUAGES 9,242 


(24) For Zpoa ;-2 (3, 1) 5 has here yrea ZF. 

S thinks that n7aN5 after oom by awn (cf. Nah. 1, 11) is 
an erroneous repetition of p75 at the end of the verse; but p75 
1° is correct, and O7aN55 is an explanatory gloss to the preceding 
pam. Shas simply .et Sopud, [p5 stile. 

For S05 2 a} Spr, ‘ ero Wydicpa Kai xAjpov, See nN. on 
3,7. TNT NW WON NOB Pax, | VT NNdD ND NOD 9ay 
N27 . 

pal pam is a paronomasia (so Schultz; cf. C 233). The assonance 
with the name H might be imitated by translating to harm them or to 
mayhem them. For Q74 we must point spare all the forms of DY 
in OT are forms of on ; see Nah. 44. On the other hand, all the forms 
of the stem of nian, execrations must be derived from Pp (ZDMG 
37,535) = .yxd; of. Aram. yEn= ys, * also Heb. 7D = -aé Si'r 
and AJSL 23, 245, 1. 13; for w instead of %p cf. Cant. 59 (ad v. 11) and 
Kings 141, 26. 

(25) #4 NDB does not mean when it came, scil. yan n2wn (so 
B, Wd, S) but when she came, scil. E (so T@’S3, LB, AV, K). The 
author of the original book would not have written HNS24, but $235 
rpl21 Anon. 

SA “DON DY (omitted in T) cannot mean (he commanded) by letters 
(so AV). According to GB", 542 the phrase means (he spoke) in con- 
nection with a letter, i.e. by means of a letter (Arab. x20 ae. as 
(da verkiindigte er) mit dem Schreiben which is explained to mean zu- 
gleich mit dem Erlass des Schreibens (contrast 25732 05), Ez. 1, 1; 
ef, Kings 179, 2). Norcan "507 OY "728 mean he gave a written order 
(B, Wd, K). #4 "505 Op is a tertiary gloss referring to the letter which 
the King had authorized H to send to all the governors &e (3, 12; 8, 5). 
The first glossator simply stated: The King said, The mischief which H 
planned against the Jews, shall recoil on his own head; so H and his ten 
sons were impaled. A subsequent glossator deemed it necessary to empha- 
size the fact that the King had made this statement although he had 
authorized H to exterminate all the Jews in his empire; he therefore 
added “50M DY, i.e. in spite of the letter (scil. which the King had 
authorized H to send to the governors &c). For D3, in spite of cf. 


* Arab. WRAL, = Less , flat cake of bread baked on a griddle, or in the ashes of a fire 
(not in the oven)as an Aram. loanword with € (owing to the peEpeTINE ») for és Ue 3 cf. 
K26, (ZAT 25, 359) and ADX, pl. DAH. (1 K 19,6; Is. 6,6) = post-Bibl. D257 (Men. 
638). For wh, rufat and “s) rufat cf. os) ruffa and ) ruff, chopped straw, 


chaff. 
74 


9, 26. 27 CriticaAL Notes on ESTHER gal 


mj-oy (Neh. 5,18) and WdG 2, 164, below. The statement of the 
glossator, 27) TWN D9 OTT Oy awh ws AN naw aw" 

yo Sp ID MNT INN, is at variance with the original narrative; the 
glossator might have said: "37°79 Sy AWM WN APT InawMa aw" 
YTB INN WNT TR > THT ef. n. on 8, 7. 

(26) For the first part of v. 26 see n. on v. 23. The author of the 
original Book may have known that “45 (or rather ™)5="775) was a 
Pers. word for 9079. & reads se& Ligas ein DSeous el te Ladpe 
bw es som; here j«.2 may be a corruption (or adaptation) of j,s. Instead 
of [ses it would be better to point Lajas. T has wp> Tp 72 753; 
No"s DTW Dy Nw PONT; T ow Sy eh Po Nnard Mp 
TN? FANT SMPFT ANAND. In T? Rw np is derived from NOTAB, wrath, 
i.e. punishment, trial (cf. AJSL 23, 227, 1. 11; ZDMG 61, 286, 30) from 
="5), to boil (see Nah. 43). The rendering Unheil (given in Dalman’s 
Worterbuch) is unwarranted. ©? may have combined O75 with 775, 
winepress = Blutbad (massacre, carnage). See Pur. 51, 38 and third 
paragraph of nn. on 3, 7. 

The second part of v. 26 is a gloss explaining the i= bp at the 
beginning of the verse, with special reference to 725) at the beginning 
of v.27. The 7) bp to be explained is repeated at the beginning of the 
explanation; see Hzekiel 41, 16.22.27 and the translation of Ezek. 
(SBOT) p. 1, below; p. 94, below; cf. also gloss 7 in my restoration of y 
68 (AJSL 23, 239 and 224)). Two explanations of af) bp are given; the 
first is: IN" [721 NNT MNT "I 5D Sy; the second: F729 FID dy 

s5>y y-an. The second is a tertiary gloss explaining the preceding 
gloss: 2D S9=nNT NANT “AI DD by, and ordy yan a= 
wWimd). The phrase WNIT NSN “7274 $5 52 was sufficiently explicit; 
therefore this tertiary gloss substitutes simply [55 5y; but IW 44 
might be misunderstood, and was therefore explained by y"3q PFW" 
p75, in order to make it clear that IN" [7 did not mean what they 
had seen, but what they had experienced ; cf. the explanation of RA™5 
in ©’, quoted above, ym S>NT RMP - S’s rendering, Deswegen, nach 
allen den Worten des Briefs, so wohl in Betreff dessen, was sie selbst 
dieserhalb erlebten, als dessen was sie betraf, setzten die Juden fest, is 
monstrous (cf. n. on 4, 7). Also AV and K connect the verb at the 
beginning of v. 27 with the preceding clause. 

(27) For Va"p read. Va7p'- This is the sequel of the clause at the 
beginning of v. 26, "9557 DW 59 ONS MONT OMAN INP 7D dy, the 
verb nyabip) being coordinated to ANP: 

The following dapi (Q*ré bap) is a gloss to the preceding Wap; 
it was added owing to the api at the beginning of the gloss vy. 23-25. 

75 


u bf THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SEMITIC LANGUAGES 9, 28. 29 


S$ has simply eS+e for both dapi Yap; cf. n. on v. 21, also footnote to 
ml, One, oF 

fA O-527 refers to the proselytes (contrast D°4"N"2 in.8, 17). 

For p>">2 we must not read poy (contrast last n. on 4,5). In 
pm: ob this preposition means in addition to; see Kings 125, 7. 

$A “VDP7 N54 (cf. 1, 19) is misplaced; it should be transposed to the 
end of this verse, after SD rp S52, and instead of {237 N55 we 
must read (9237 N54, referring to xo O24 Iw RN; cf. the gloss 
in y. 28. The letters 4 and ™ are easily confounded; cf. n. on 45% (7, 8). 
For transposition of 4 see also Nah. 41 (395 for a54, &e). 

HA O727D DOANSS, according to their writing and according to 
their time (but 3 ,omls}> —sosds, yj) means according to the 
written traditions concerning these days (festal regulations, festal 
legends, &c; see Pur. 11, 35; 9, 22) and according to their dates, viz. 
the 14 and 15™ of Adar; 7.e. the last full moon of the Fw, the tropical 
year (AJSL 22, 256). For the reason why the two spring festivals, 
Purim and Passover, are not celebrated at the vernal equinox, on the 
first day of the first month, but on the 14 and 15™ days of the 12™ 
and the 1st months, respectively, see conclusion of n. on y. 31. For the 
two days of the festival cf. "WM wWITM DOD (1 S 20, 34). B’s view 
that D2MDD refers to M’s letter (vv. 20. 23) is erroneous. For vat cf. 
n. On 71" (8, 9). 

(28) The second part of this verse is an explanatory gloss, not only to 
the first part of v. 28, but also to the end of v. 27. 3S has ,op=s) for 
{725", and ;2) for myo. 

(29) Verses 29-32 represent a subsequent addition. 

For 5°28 M2, which seems to be a tertiary addition, see n. on 2, 15. 

The prefixed 4 in "597725 is a secondary addition (cf. n. on v. 10). 
The original text of this gloss was no doubt: AN ==> “NON DNSN 
DMEM MSR MS D*P> “TTT “STA Oph 55, Queen E described all 
the power of the Jew M in order to enjoin this Purim message (which 
M had sent to the Jews; see vv. 20-22) 7.e. E sent a letter to all the Jews 
setting forth M’s capacity for action and performance (especially dca 
éroincev, What he had accomplished for his coreligionists and what he 
might accomplish for them in the future) and urging them to observe 
the feast of Purim as prescribed by M. V. 32 ("MON “77ON4) speaks 
only of E, not of M. 6" reads in the present verse: kai éypayev EoOnp 
4 Bacihiooa Ovyarnp ApuvadaB Kai Mapdoyaios 6 “Iovdaios doa éroinoav. The 
original reading may have been xai éypayev EoOnp 7 Bacidiooa Ovyatnp 
ApuvadaB doa éroincey (So GS) Mapdoyaios 6 “Tovdaios. 

SH npn 55 MN cannot mean with all strength, with all energy; 
AV with all authority; K unter Hinsetzung ihres ganzen Ansehens ; 

76 


9, 30. 31 CriticAL Notes on ESTHER 1/35 


3 omni studio. This expression would be still more peculiar than the 
phrase "5CM OP “772N (v. 25). With all energy or most emphatically 
might be expressed by spn $52 or mpin $52, but not mph 5 mx. 
TI love thee with all my strength (cf. Mark 12, 30) would be 552 208 i 
"170 (cf. Deut. 6,5). The prefixed AX must be the nota accusativi; 
so €@? (REIN 55 nm). For m&=m" see Nah. 25. & has |Zp-e —oss 
for [pM 5 nN. 

SM M-IwM is a tertiary gloss; cf. n. on 2,14. Also ANT is a sub- 
sequent addition. 

(30) V. 30 is omitted in 6. 

GA Tdw) (S c3pec) is impersonal (cf. n. on 8, 10). But the original 
text may have been Mw; the masculine form may have been sub- 
stituted after “T° D770 (v. 29) had been transposed. In Cant. 2,7, 
on the other hand, the feminine form has been substituted for the mas- 
culine form (FJ25NM MAN is a later addition) because yarw “Ty may 
have reminded some readers of Job 40, 17: TANS S37 yen 7, where 
337 =cauda Hor. Sat. 1, 2, 45; 2, 7,49. The original meaning of yen 
= eas is intendere. Cf. the explanation of the scriptio plena Fi"? 
(Cant. 5, 2) BL 33. 

For m3579 read mipd7aa; ef. n. on mraa (1,9) and GK”, § 118, g; 
S nZeads%>. 

fA mAN Dw “MDI (S, transposed, LeSase j5-2» f&) does not 
mean words of peace and truth (so AV; S Worte des Friedens und der 
Wahrheit; 3 ut haberent pacem et susciperent veritatem; T? a5- 
NOwWIpPT xabdw) but words of greeting and faithfulness (cf. Psalms 
80, 27). LB mit freundlichen und treuen Worten, K mit frewnd- 
schaftlichen und wohlgemeinten Worten. The Queen, of course, did not 
send a warlike message or a statement that was not true; but she sent 
her coreligionists friendly greetings, emphasizing the fact that she would 
remain a faithful Jewess and never abandon the religion of her fathers. 

(31) #4 FD5aN ANN) after “THT "D777 is a tertiary gloss. 

The p59 in OSSD Dp WN>d does not refer to OF"D2T, as Wd 
supposes, but to the Jews; cf. DF) pap> in v. 21. 

PH onpsTi MAST Ds, at the end of this verse, means the 
procedures (cf. n. on 1, 13) or institutions of the great fast (plur. intens.) 
and their crying (or invocation), ST wns, @ xows 7-2 
xmvoynT. This refers to 4,1.3.16. M had cried with a loud and 
bitter ery (A-V2) D435 Mpst pry) and the Jews had fasted, wept, 
and lamented (450739. "524 we when the edict of H became known. 
Afterwards E asked M to fast with all the Jews of Susa for her sake, 
three days and three nights, before she went to the King, and E herself 
with her maids fasted in the same way. 

tts 


174 Tue AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SEMITIC LANGUAGES 9,32—10,2 


The statement in the present passage,. .. . DEM "2" ns pp, 


DMP] NVM MIT... . Va3p “WND would seem to imply that 
the Jews had adopted the fasting (and crying) before they adopted the 
feasting. They may have observed the Babyl. New Year’s festival at 
first as a fast-day, but the less orthodox Jews (the Sadduceans) may 
have gradually adopted the celebration of the (Baby. and) Persian New 
Year’s festival (just as many modern Jews celebrate Christmas). This 
was afterwards sanctioned by the ecclesiastical authorities, but the date 
was changed: the feast was celebrated, not at the beginning of the first 
month, but at the middle of the preceding month, just as the ancient 
Heb. spring festival, the Passover, was not celebrated at the beginning 
(new moon) of the first month (about the time of the vernal equinox) 
but at the middle (full moon) of the first month, in order to avoid a 
coincidence of the Jewish Passover and the Babylonian New Year’s 
festival. 

During the Baby]. Captivity Ezekiel (about 570 B. c.) reeommended 
to observe the Day of Atonement on the 1‘ of Tishri, while the New 
Year was to be celebrated on the 10 of Tishri, in order to avoid a 
coincidence of the Jewish New Year with the Babyl. festival at the 
beginning of the second half of the year. Under Persian dominion, 
about 500 B.o. (when the Priestly Code was compiled in Babylonia) the 
two festivals in the seventh month, as prescribed by Ezekiel, exchanged 
places so that the Day of Atonement was observed on the 10™ of Tishri, 
because the Persians celebrated the payodowa on that day. Cf. n. on 
v. 27 and Pur. 4, 20-37; 20, 38; 33, 14. 

(32) Wd’s view that "502 refers either to the book from which the 
author took the two letters (cf. n. on v. 20) or to our Book of E, is 
gratuitous. Heb. "502 does not necessarily mean in the book (AV) 
it may also mean in a book (so K, S) see Kings 191, 37. 


= 


(1) For the misplaced gloss in vy. 1 see fourth paragraph of nn. on 2,18. 

(2) In v. 2" we must transpose * and *: the opening clause, 554 
W723) EPM MwI72, should follow the second clause, n55 mw75) 
bia D335 WR "DTA; even the first clause 1N7723) SPN Hw 557 
refers to M, not to the King. 

The clause pan 4533 “we is a scribal expansion derived from 
5,11; it cannot mean whereunto the King advanced him (so AV; K zu 
der ihn der Konig erhob) nor does it mean whom the King advanced 
(so S; $ beads asic, T Od NA OT, ©? xoda sm 7s 4) 
or whereby the King had advanced him (B; 3 qua exaltavit Mar- 
docheum). Cf. footnote to n. on 2, 3. 

78 


10,3 CriticaL Notes on EstTHER 175 


(3) For owt" 59754 it would be better to read Ou DOT. 
% bogSaw “SS [55. The 5 instead of 3 seems to be due to the 5 in 
pm —7w72 and to the following clause, 7H 2d MZ (EF WN 
“NNT PITNINSCS omitted in $) which, of course, does not mean 
acceptable to most of his brethren (contrast n. on 4, 3) but acceptable to 
the multitude of his brethren, i.e. to his numerous coreligionists (so 
B,S). In the large number of his coreligionists there was not one who 
disliked him. Cf. 732 24, the large number of his sons (5, 11). 

The phrase 37495 350 275 means: he tried to promote the interests 
of the Jews, while (p> 555 OcSw 7D implies that he was not 
haughty and distant, but affable and kind to the meanest among his 
brethren, in spite of his exalted position. For pibw 727 S refers to 
me 9, 10; y 85,9. Cf. y 122: 42 DIdw ND-TADIN and Fwpay 
7 a0. i 


[The Hebrew text follows.] 


79 


176 THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SEMITIC LANGUAGES 9,22—10,3 


Tah. OT Os2 2 wx oD sw) Mw 322 13 Wwe 
miws> 3 ord Saya) awd Paya OF JEN WW WIT 
Muna I wR Mw Nowa maw Hmwa “2 BMS 
“Tap $7 pw Sy os Poe va Np 72 OF es oAND 

“oy mid {} Baty ome 5S Sn esa oo Oy BT 
Sar NOY} awh Mow 523 Byars) pans> FONM Dyas Iw MS 
mmawa) AMEwA wT WN Sea Bes OST ONT BT 

eS TT TA AT 


DF NT fina Tepm ws Say} so TA NST MWe ff 

“77a omen Ta edad ov aT BD by Ean 

ao wT mss 2 A oS a ed Twa 
riont Ds> pow an wy. 


SOS [IA AND WON my wd bo WON MN DUTT "TSP 9, 23 (e) 
MaN> Oop Sy aon on b> ke ww Nan ja pan 
aw vy ax Joan p> mRha seepam> Gavan xi MP Sem AD 
aa mins bees by onan by awn owe mean onsen 
{PIM oy 


“Sap 27 (7) SW TA MRM maxmwmat by by | 7D Sy 26 (e) 
pyaTa TION NS OAM OT Tina Ma NS TNT DT AN 8!) 


m8 Ops fn wtva"} apm S> myx {} «ema>an amo’ ano = 29 (9) 

pws yaw ok TT ‘ by po mw :ssonem max 5 

my op> rma by “at wens mba mate nN 3 

OND TTT TAA DANY pp WWD OFsaTA TNT OMEN 77 

“MON “WaN'al sDnpsm miaizm at pyr Sy1 pwE) Sy Wap 2 
:9BOa AnD ARM OMEN MAT OF 








DY WM 3 (8) Jor 553 TWN 10, 2 (@) 
DON IMI Ma MDD Sy 26 (83) “DOM Dy 9, MD (vy) Sand 9, 24 (88) 
mD>daM ANON 31 (a) Mw ANTM 6) S3rmaN MD 29 (ee) 


9, 22 


27. 26 


28 


10, 2 
3 


9, 6-21 snox nd50 177 


SS io tt yore) i =) a) oss sma wn) 7a nao 


+ eer =yr = _ ae 
— RN le ee! | 


PROTA MN NNCIU7D NN 
NWA MN 9 yi=D7 ANI 
“STAN ON) INMECN ON) 
“TAN MNT RNG75 ANI 
INMATT NN NTS ANI 
Mow NO AAD ST OT Ne Xn yA yan ya nowy 
{Ov MN 


“aN span ies “ww HST 7a 82 Ni oF. 

TR MRA wan oT a Ay. | ban snexd oan 

ma, Tw A ae mrs "Nw. yas 2 Mwy mE 
yom Tm as m1 FD Nas Now 


MOR ETT Wa O35 WI" Bw PT Oy ON ANON WANN 
(yo 53 ore yan wa mows ms ar mi mwsd pow. 
yan "3a nw>s nN pw. nF eM ~P NwIT Pan wa 
ibn 

wind Ww FAW OYA Os wwa Ww ONT Dnps 
(OT MS Wow ND TaD wv . mina wy Www.s ss AWN 

{} DYED OP Ta ops 7220 Maa Tes ETT NT 
win. Ww mow ora | [] Fox ovawi Mwan ows si 
smaw) nea BP AN Mies a wey pss fini PH 
“9 POINT 2 Tey mebea aps ww. 7x OTT 
23 yaw) Minwa Or ons Hwy 1 Ww Mona nin 1 
SS word wy PIN OP MN es owen OT ) 
SWI) wR NA Towa so PT Anon naw 

DTT D> Sk Oso Mow FORO OAT AR "S742 ans" 
bry Eps opin mshpr. pon. mma boa ces 
ean OP MN IN WIND Ww aw OP mR Oe nth 


TPN 1 © SAN () FINA 6 (°) FANT IAM 9, 5 
D7? mx indw xd mran1 16 @) San1 «) sy2n 2) 


W'T TAR 9, 5 (=) MTN MAA Dw; 19 (0) DPDNa Min 16 () 
81 


13 


14 


178 THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SEMITIC LANGUAGES 8, 10—9,5 


sap wid TA IT. WON MTA wh NST) OVERS 
ynd> ON Os AMS ATA eT aT Ao Bw 
pest ha) oso Mw an nyaea ony +75cn ow3 ans 
vor wy doa tes ett oom yn] wR iC ws S54 
poe 55 mR TANT 3 Taw pws oy Taxd) Spm 
éqban miuvta Soa chs ora yyonsy OST Aa Te 
Sn27 YwMS CIN WIN NT) Ww Ow wINd ww Mwdwa 
pet ms) pat b25 ba (ava Aa 553 NF yr) 
forma ko oped i eS ony 

Joan “pba Nee STD yor TTa"2 WW ews "54 AN 
ow Mem yaw ya pram ensen'y nm’ mis22 wiasa 
ma Doan aps jew) Aad i NT OTS feos 
mimaw sea NT a aT ws DApa Ww Ty 5231 APT 
mona YON “ara mah so or ows o> ww 
roy DTT Imp SED "D 

“WN 12 EY Tw MwDw. Ck WIT NH) WIN wy ows 
pat aps ea Ten emiws> tnt aA 34 an 
RD WR) ON "wpaaa TP mows yan mia 523 OMS 
“ws MME) OIE TwMNT mwa ww 55 seared tap 
maa “Ta S13 9D SOT MN END 70> TwR AON 


0. 14 


17. 16 


9,8 
2 


3 
4 


Oras 522 OTT EN meta 922 pin aw) pan a 





D DIO} («) DITO 8,9 pws) pans OTT N18, 9 () 
Tad pddowr pws 2D (») Sort 11 (u) TE NUNN 3) 
DNUANN 14 (0) w'vrons = 12 (é) 
myan Pow. wm Ma an 33 Dn (x) 

amaw (2) sou aa Mwy 7 (e) 
oma obw> oot ODS Maw Ws DM 9, 8 (2) 

D'PONN 2 () pms manct ode WwEN (B) 
orm>y 2335970 IMD SD> > 3 Ce) pvasn b> by osm Sep D2 (8) 


Ss pan Ta ND 4 


DTI 9, 8 (22) DD"O TT 123.8, 9 
82 


7,58, 9 snox nos0 179 


ON LIT TN TT NT a dan nods Pon Laie 
7h ja TN oe SMoN “aNN) $7 Mw 1d ” 
wana Op am HP y= ay pan "550 nga yam) 
Sntwa 1b: by wpad Tay yom wean mea bs pn nw 
a0 Pam Bist nNa FT TS Nd 7D ANS Adan 
SNCS TEN Tw Sy DE) Fam PT nw ma og Wran mesa 
"270 orraa "2 FSO NN WS) O35 Pan TaN Ty 

STEN yar "IE > lat "BD NS 

"EN Yon Tn Bs pan "5D DPCM fa ITS AIAN TaN 
yon maa 329 a Sy aw Tat Say eR "STA jan Tey 
33 yan me DAM PTS dn “pon "AN" TAS ONEOT AS 
(mew ban nom ‘orm pon ex yon 

sz yom ma nk mda snoNd «ban Wn Xi prs 
(DN a ANON ATS > an “eb RQ TT a TT 
Dion) “ST72> FER jase TI WSN INnsaD MX Un ON 
;jar ma 53 "ST MN ANON 

PANN FAM P57 a> SBM PSaht "| aI Ano’ pon 
DAW MN "NcND inte oon Pert yar no mS asm 1 
379 la Sy ON WANN $4 ED Tam AMON OPM ann 
T3732 GN ID gee "159 727 WI) THD 7 "NNeA ON 
TON OTT MS TaN an> TUN YOUECT MN 20nd ans 
SMITA TTANI IYNT DN MISRe 7D an MT 522 

Jor 3 TIT TT "3T7a) 5a Ned <a aR" 

Ps Sy AMD OMS Sys Oy nM nN) AneNd crn 
TN INS 72 Pw Pezes yan pen oes ores swe 

asa m4 ps bon meze2 e’nnn jon ows sn 
yo Dan NH ) wun wns NI Mw. aire ""5D INP" 


ON7 DTT SF “TVA TS WR 55D ans 2 Ow TwIwa 











DT TOME 8, 8 (@) ART OT OME 7,7) 
RNTaN 7a jon Maw 8G) OTA Sy ae es naw ms) 
NIT [OT MN NYDN oes Saw mE 6 


19 @) oars. TD ndw wor by © Ovo 7 
83 


zn 


bo 


~] 


180 THe AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SEMITIO LANGUAGES 6,3—7,4 


WAN IT Sy "aTWaS FN Ap? ws a an WN 


"EM 72 J Wak 3737 War Mw2 Nd Twas WaT As 4 


MX Mn o7a> Tax ANS Fan ma on Sw Ra yam) 
TIT TOR AT I TAN 10> PIT WR yo 39 "aT 
NI oT Wak AEN. Tay pa 

pan Wwe wea Mw. Ha pan > AN yo Na 
“ny “ap? Mwy pan yer "a> wd yan aN Mpa yan 
he Spa VEN ‘an TWN WS PAT ON HyaNN 13m 
{} qomn Py on “WN O01 TWF Awad Ww MII wid 
ie n OMAN Fan ia wee Tbe oto wid Tin 
Sima cen bs iam Fes VET an TWN NT MS 
Ppa VEN a TWN wd | 3 MoD THD “NIP) TIN 

MWD CIO MN wind MN Mp Wa me an Wak" 
PBN ON PAN wWwa awe “TN “STV 7 Mw MAT 
wal ONO AN wi MX Pa MP iNT WR 599 27 
weed Fw Aa Td py Ten Dima as. Ta MS 
ipa VET yoa7 WR 

MEM) Das IMS ON ATT ya Fan www os TT 2w4 
VAN" TIP WR 5D MNS PAAR 5557 WNws wad SABO ON 
bend midi Wwe OT DTT aa ON InwN warn aN. 
"omy vay HaTA OMY ppb den disp 9 wb down Nb Bd 
nimey wR Nw SR pa Mk NAN DAI ws aN 
tSNCN 

pan wae y2>an “MOx By nimw> pam yan xa 
a) JD WMaM) Fab Anos FnoRw Ma pH nwa «MONS 
TaN) Ms>a AMON PMI sw Maen wy = Mpa 
"ED "DIMM De aT Oy ON) PM PIA i MN ON 
sand maend “an Iw oe Pmwpaa “ay “now. 
Md TS PR OD AMAT Ww) MN]wST Hays EN) TANIA 
‘an pia 


WOM DVS O43 7,2 @) ams (¢) WN mis>’a ain jms" 8 (e) aT 6,7 (8) 

















AWN 6, 8 Om) 
84 


11 


12 


13 


14 


7,28 


5, 1-6, 2 “nox m5 181 


rma "sna Tam ses SMtR walM "wow ara 
wminba NOD OD BwY Pam pen ma ns men qn 
“PCR NS “Pan MND WA ian mma m5) nian maa 
MN “nce Fan ew Pv. WT Nw) WENA Nts ncn 
Paw UN PsN “NTR IPM Ma Ww anh wat 
"Sn ID — a) Waban Anes > a eT AD aN 
Nis? 31O a Oy BN TNC WANN 3 AD a miso2n 
ot WAN 3 Me ws nwa be ern yam pan 
Sx yam bo N24 nck 737 MR Nw je MS WT 
PancN Nw Wwe Nw 

an yo I MoRw a PT Mw. Nek) San a 

“MONW TANNT ANCR PM ews MDa En ys yMwpa 
“ato an O37 ON) a a i MNS2 ON) SNe 
SS aT an wa Cnwpa MN Mw “NNW mR nnd 
een aT shee ma) Od WN TN wan 

"37772 ON Va MIN 2 35 S48 Teo ST BYS a7 NsM 
man oT Sy soe wa ST ND) Op So Pan wa 
PINON WT MNT Tak MS Na Mow Mea ON N12 PpERN” 
span ‘a3 Wwe {} MO Ta Ih Tw TD MS yO “ES 
NO OS Stan spc sa omit {55} o> intos Tex nxt 
DN "D> nw ws nw ON Fan oy aban “nex AN"aN 
id ere orbs) ocr 9 A> Rp MN Imad Os MN 
‘pan wa ace oa ae MS FIN ON TW ny d23 

MAS OWA Aas YS ese Tank O21 Nw wit} axNm 
D8 4a By N31 Toy “ST NX DM > “ox “past 
{yor ws Ya BIT ae Maw nw 


eM Watt “BO MS wa TaN Pa nw AT wT Tb. 
by "72 TST TR 2nd Nea ben ed op) rm 
sya “TP Dw) Wpl MWR PT co Iw win) sens 


Tar 12 (8) yan 11 (y) yar 5, > (6) jan 5,9 (a) 
weYURRN () nom ne 2 (8) pa "727 6, S (2) 


85 


14 


182 THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SEMITIC LANGUAGES 38, 15—4, 17 


ran Pow. MR. NIT a 333 ENT We oT 
Dias Pow WT minw> iaw* jam Pam 

pio wad) a2 MR ps mws2 Twrx bs aN PT ST 
"BD WP NIA TV 3 pst psm™ sh TN. RV AB 
boa) (po winds qbon “vw be nad TS °2) Pu ww 
OTD S173 AN Ha INT 7wM 737 TwR DApA eis Pha) 
roran> y'g" EN) pio TBee1 °22) Bist 

moda bmbmnns md rms grome) Ono’ A) APRN 
ROT Toya Spw won) ota ms wadsd ova mbwm Ie 
TIED TT WOR WaT vom ANd “nck NIpM {Sap 
DS JOO eo ma baat a mtd come Se gm 
"Ta 1 an Aw a> Twx Tn aim Se Tha 


DW Dapw> Wa Wak TWN FOS MNO MX Wp Ww 55 MN 


(P=) ON MIN smo ywM] mei rovaNd omsrra aban mM 
rgd) mb crambh snes me mend > yn om aed wr 
a" pay by reba epads  pnnnd bon be wd may 
oT “aT NS “NCR 4 nn 

Bs an “ay bo sot Ok TEM) nnd once WaNM 
Spat OS NI WN TES wR 5D Te Et en mw 
S25 mand INT AMR NIp ND TWN NIE EN ON 
“MNpPI ND INT PT ant oratw me ban > awh WERE 
oy osoibw mt 7am Se NaS 

SS Dwr co WAN sneN “aT ng ST AT 

" soni bea aban maa aban yes. “2M Ok AMON 
Dp. oe Ta Asm my mei nea wn wT OS 
Pps MND My ON 7 t WANN ‘Pak m2 AN OAS 
ay >y=)) 

mi bo mk ows 97> ota Se awd snos oN 
myo mw amon Sy) DeNm Syn "Sy Wa) PwIw. PRL 
MWR PDT SN NSN 7221 PD DISS "NWN UN OF OM M7 
SMTA “NTaN TENS) MD Nd 

SINCN THD FAME Wwe 555 wH "SIT A 
"D777 4, & (2) 





86 


a | 


-~] 


13,12 


16.10 


17 


8, 1-14 sncx noi 183 


Bi mew [] yan me «aoe bss mde oa mE 
TOR JOO. “ay Ssh AMR TW OMT 5D Sy NCD MN 
"STO an ID TS WD “SD pand enmwar oy yan ww 
pon Ww. wR aban "7a TaN tame xd) pS" ND 
Pek HANI TM Ppa mea AX ay nx pina stab 
at ma mb and than obey vow eds om oP 
madam > pon ob SSis ee ne ad Re PTA 
a> Swoa {} ad soe th omood eva am ian 
i(] westwns misba boa wr fyortT [155 nN 

past Pa TB WE INN Od Awe a Pa TaN 
Span ons my) oy boa mew omnn qmida mim dea 
ans” 310 277 Oy ON som Me PR yo) OW ON 
manda “ey th by Spex fod pd OEoN mows DNS 
mmm I Sy inpao ms bam wom ian oa Sk NAM 
Sieeh ia n> “1% nl? es re span aan}? yar 
mee 

2 BY wy mwwa PWN wins a MD INA 
SWS MIME OND Fa EWTN Ok Ya As Wwe 55D an" 
Bs) Fanss Ta) ta os De se SN SI a OP 
mw soa maw. on ans) *qoa ows wwl> oy 
Po Sehean2 TNO. a. Ha 2S ON Es TS ES 
MWA INN OYA Ow FO pT Wh “wea oT oD MEN 
yaona iTia> mo>wh CIN WIN NIM) Tw ow wind sw» 
mys ovary 555 “bs Gata) pa bea mt ynzm>) ansn 
iin o> ony 








jan 3,7) “TID NWT WN Ord Mar 7D 4 (6) We WAN 3, & (2) 
WIPO 8 @) TM OP Rw ws) TAD AN 6) 
DVYORNN 2) POA DTT WNT RMN 2 7 0) 
DPT ee TI DM MIwI Go WIN ST) Pw wn. 7A 
Sun Spy windy waran on pea pan web Gwan wi) MP 

SCS In ww sw wind “by mwibw Sy 











WUT WM 38, 7 (um) 
87 


8,8 


id 


12 


13 


14 


184 THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SEMITIO LANGUAGES 2, 10-23 


ma sed mns2 ms ody {} AT NI yaw AN 
my coT% 2 "> Anwdya MN Aa ns nes TET Nd) sows 
MEM "25D ona “ST DM Br 52a) CTEM ND WN EPP 
iMa mw: ma ances obw mx nod ows mS 

72 FD NT Vp $722 Ok NIRS TN 2 A Pa 
DMOIN ww Apa wey 2 7D 7S) won Ww Bw Bw 
mai iow: "prvansi pvwaa pwn mew Wan jaws 
may NID) AD IN VNN WR OD NN aT ON ANA IN 
maw 8 — MRI NT IV. pan m3 wy pm mae 
sb (owabEn ee a a co Tawsw TOON) "OWI MS ON 
fora MNpM een Aa Yen px > soon os Ty Non 

DR "3 "D7 Hepa ND an SN ND MANN Ah HHS 
32 792 WT MNT] <M Dw Taw 3 TN" TWN AN 
Ni) “ws ww WMD Ma ON “a DN *npam sae 
boa “MCN MN Pc aN simisd25 saw mows (nay TI 
misba n> pes midinan So 13s) Jom in Neh oI 
yw 29 S13 nwa Fon ws somw) nnn. ys AN 
Span To mvwa pe émiers An "Ts 


“WN Naa HXp "Pan wwa awry 1 Ree. pn 
770) “SIT SIT fea Po now> Tepan {} aaa 
"at wean of fsem sae} Poe andar jal yen? ea 
spon “8b Ova aT "Boa aN" y>? 59 oD AM REN 
‘yard a Sa “SY Ne 








mad i> p> Wws wa 5 Say m3 2,70 @) 3D 4G) WOMEN 2, 12 () 


D'OR (4) SINTN 16 (a) “MON («) pan om WD © 
DTS PANT Dy Oo TAM DW 10.8 (0) MOI) AMONMNVANMN 18 @) 
WINN 21 (°) Pan Ww aw Ta wna Yap 19) 


sera cw qbad anos Taam maban anced = 22 () 








MID 2, 19 (vv) WAY WMS 10, N (7) 
714 my Ty WD FAY mS asd MIVA AMON PN 2, 5 4) 
STAN T2AN2 ANT WR My “nox "27 “axa niet 
88 


13 


14 


21 


1, 16—2, 9 snox nd573 185 


rin a> qa Sy ND ow Pon "a> jaa TaN 
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pon spy creme Ta 7sN Sn Wa Nis See 
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we T ONS () T1 1, 7 &) “1 2) 








D'ITOME 1,9 (ee) 
90] 186 


a1 14 


aie] 


The following papers by Professor Paul Haupt have been published 
in THe AMERICAN JOURNAL OF Semitic LANGUAGES AND LITERATURES: 

1. “Assyrian Phonology, with Special Reference to Hebrew,” Vol. I, 
No. 3 (January, 1885), pp. 175-85. 

2. “Wateh-ben-Hazael, Prince of the Kedarenes, about 650 B. c.,” 
Vol. I, No. 4 (April, 1885), pp. 217-31. 

3. “On the Etymology of Matnint,” Vol. II, No. 1 (October, 1885), 
pp. 4-6. 

4, “On the Penitential Psalm De Profundis,” Vol. II, No. 2 (January, 
1886), pp. 98-106. 


5. “On the Etymology of Nekasim,” Vol. ITI, No. 2 (January, 1887), 
pp. 107-10. 


6. “Semitic Studies in America,’ Vol. V, No. 1 (October, 1888), p. 89. 


7. “Stumme’s Grammatik des Tunisischen Arabisch nebst Glossar,” 
Vol. XI, No. 2 (January, 1895), p. 110. 


. 8. “The Book of Canticles,” Vol. XVIII, No. 4 (July, 1902), pp. 193- 
245, and Vol. XIX, No. 1 (October, 1902), pp. 1-32. 


9. “The Poetic Form of the First Psalm,” Vol. XIX, No. 3 (April, 
1903), pp. 129-42. 


10, “‘Isaiah’s Parable of the Vineyard,’ Vol. XIX, No. 4 (July, 1903), 
pp. 193-202. 
11. “ Moses’ Song of Triumph,” Vol. XX, No. 2 (April, 1904), pp. 
149-72. 
12. “The Poetic Form of Psalm XXIII,” Vol. XXI, No. 3 (Apml, 
1905), pp. 133-52. : 


13. “The Hebrew Stem Nahal, to Rest,’ Vol. XXII, No. 3 (April, 
1906), pp. 195-206. 


14. “The Etymology of Mohel, Cireumciser,” Vol. XXII, No. 4 (July, 
1906), pp. 249-56. 


15. “Semitic Verbs Derived from Particles,” Vol. XXII, No. 4 (July, 
1906), pp. 257-61. 


16. “Der acht und sechzigste Psalm,” Vol. XXIII, No. 3 (April, 1907), 
pp. 220-40. 


17. “Die semitisechen Wurzeln QR, KR, XR,” Vol. XXHI, No. 3 
(April, 1907), pp, 241-52. 

18. “Der assyrische Name des Potwals,” Vol. XXIII, No. 3 (April, 
1907), pp. 253-63. 





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